


Trouble Worth Fighting For

by littlelabyrinth



Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Din Collects Foundlings like it's His Hobby, Eventual Sex, Everyone plays matchmaker, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Idiots in Love, Original Character(s), Sex, Similar Backstories, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers, Touch-Starved, adding characters with every chapter, some mention of wounds and blood
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-12 03:01:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 49,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28753311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlelabyrinth/pseuds/littlelabyrinth
Summary: Chasing down a foundling has left Din conflicted over turning in his bounty. In choosing to employ Valera as his mechanic instead, she divulges that the Empire is still alive and growing. Is it true? Where will their new arrangement lead them?Taking creative liberties with season 1 and 2. Will be following the linear progression of the show with original content mixed in.A slow burn because they are my favorite kind of story.
Relationships: Din Djarin & Grogu | Baby Yoda, Din Djarin & Grogu | Baby Yoda & Original Female Character(s), Din Djarin/Original Female Character(s), Grogu | Baby Yoda & Original Female Character(s), Peli Motto & Original Character(s)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 25





	1. Conflicted

**Author's Note:**

> First time writing anything like this and publishing it but couldn't keep myself away from a good slow burn story so here we are.

Maldo Kreis was one of the coldest planets Valera had ever accepted work on, it’s outer surface was wind battered and gray. Her ship hadn’t stood a chance in such extreme conditions. The landing gears creaked and whined as she slowly descended towards a crude landing bay. Once docked at the far end of the lot, she took several minutes convincing herself of how many credits she was being paid for this run and even then she wondered if it was enough to make this trip worth her while. 

“Ok, ok I’m going. I’m leaving the ship and I’m going. I’m leaving.” She stood up, adjusting a scarf around her neck, still questioning this cold trip, but decided not to dwell on it. As it was, she was now covered head to toe in enough layers to keep her warm, and disembarked from the ship. She caught sight of a dock worker making his way towards her and she immediately pointed a finger at him, momentarily stopping him in his tracks.

“If I find one scratch on this freighter I probably won’t come after you, however if you mess up my cargo I will find you and I will kill you, got it? I’ve got 2 tons of carbon on here and I’m picking up a shipment for some friends. I’m sure you know which shipment I’m talking about, it’s the big one with all of the guns. So fill her up fast, the sooner I’m off of this planet the better.” Nearly shouting over the wind as it howled around her, he merely grunted at her and went about his work. 

Rolling her eyes as she passed him, Valera made her way to the only cantina in the small town, and scanned the patrons for her contact. Before she could settle down at a table, she spotted two familiar faces and nearly scrambled right back out the door. It was too little too late, and before she could make it back to the exit a pair of large, three fingered hands gripped each of her shoulders and she soon found her upper body being forced against the nearest table. 

“Well look who we have here.” the human of the trawler pair huffed at Valera. He roughly pulled her scarf down off of her face. 

“Valera. Didn’t think we’d see you again.” The Quarren holding her down merely nodded, his tentacles quivering slightly in excitement. 

“I bet we could sell you at the port, for what you did to us last time, it’s time you paid us back.” The human continued, as Valera now struggled against the table. Unable to reach the blaster at her hip, she stretched and tried to reach the knife in her boot. Failing to reach either, she merely shook her head and laughed.

“Come on, there’s no hard feelings here guys, it was a misunderstanding! How is it my fault if my cargo door opened after leaving lightspeed? Huh? If your guns are now floating out in space it’s your fault for not securing them, not mine.” Her laugher nervously died as the bartender across the room interjected,

“Please take this outside, I’m not cleaning up after you again.” Valera shot a rueful glance at the bartender as the Quarren roughly brought her back to her feet. 

_'See if I ever come back here, this planet sucks.’_ More obstinate thoughts ran through her head as the human pulled his own knife on Valera. Before he could do any damage, a newcomer entered the bar. All three of their heads swung towards the door, and she frowned at the blade momentarily but nodded towards the Mandalorian now standing in the doorway. The cold blast of air that accompanied his arrival sent a shiver up her spine.

“Sorry boys, but I think my ride is here. It’s been a- uh oh...” She was interrupted by the human squaring off in front of the Mandalorian, blaming him for spilling his drink across the table she had been pressed against moments ago. As the inevitable fight ensued, Valera struggled more violently and kicked at the Quarren until he released her to go help his friend. Without any hesitation, Valera was out the doors and booking it towards her ship. Bounty hunters came for her now and again, that was nothing new. But to see a Mandalorian coming for her, well, that was something different. She must have pissed someone off one too many times. She smirked as she skidded past the dock worker looking after her ship and tossed a handful of credits his way. 

“Thanks, gotta go!” Her voice was immediately whisked away on the wind as she jumped onto the cargo ramp of her ship and scrambled up into the cockpit. She fired up the engines, and closed the bay door, punching in the coordinates to Tatooine. Much to her delight, her ship jumped into lightspeed in record time and she was on her way. Grateful to be headed towards a warmer planet, she turned on autopilot and shed her cold weather gear quickly, opting for something simple and light. Hiding in plain sight worked best for her, especially when she knew the planet as well as she did. She would have called it home if she admitted to staying anywhere long enough for that. 

———

She was adjusting her blaster in its holster just as the ship’s console beeped at her announcing her proximity to the planet. Returning to the controls, she guided the ship down to an old warehouse bay. She wasted no time in signing off the ship to the droid waiting for her on the loading dock. 

“If you need me, you know where to find me.” She waved a nonchalant hand towards it and took off towards the nearest hangar to check in on her personal ship. 

“What do you mean she’s not done yet, I dropped her off a week ago!” Valera had to cup her hands around her mouth and yell over the deafening noise of the garage. She stepped around two pit droids and pointed a finger at Peli Motto. Peli waltzed out of her office and balked at her, a hand to her chest in over dramatic disbelief.

“Valera I told you, I basically had to rebuild her from the ground up, you really ran the gauntlet with how much damage she took. It’s a wonder you even flew here. I’m doing the best that I can, you know that.” She rubbed at her temple for a moment before smirking at Valera.

“I can speed things up but I’d still need at least a couple more hours.” She held out her hand expectantly and Valera sighed, stepping forward to drop a handful of credits into her outstretched hand.

“You’ve got one hour at the most and then I’m out of here, Peli. I’ve got someone on my tail so I’ve gotta run as fast and as far as I can.” Valera glared at the woman in front of her for a moment before breaking into her own grin. The two had known each other for years now and while Valera would never admit it, Peli was one of her closest friends. Peli merely shook her head at Valera and shooed her out of the hangar.

“Geeze, one hour. You know it would go faster if you helped me!” Picking up a wrench and waving it towards Valera, but Valera just shook her head. 

“I could, but you’re the best of the best, Peli. Besides, I’ve got errands to run.” 

“Alright you heard the lady, let’s go!” Peli started shouting orders to the pit droids and Valera wandered away making her way towards the nearest market. She knew she had only a little time to prepare so she needed to stock up and get out of there as soon as she could. 

Once she was satisfied with her purchases and had them safely stored back on her ship, she made her way to a cantina to bide her time. Inside the dim building Valera hid herself away in one of the booths at the back, and ordered a drink to blend in. She then turned her attention towards the stage to watch as a singer and her accompaniment played a familiar tune.

———

The Mandalorian had made quick work of the trawlers back on Maldo Kreis and had watched from the cantina’s doorway as Valera just managed to enter her cargo ship and take off. Sighing to himself, he stepped out of the cold, and back into the cantina while he checked his bounty puck again. Valera’s face blipped into view before him, she was pretty enough, and certainly didn’t look like his usual bounty but the only thing that mattered was to do the job, get the credits, and move on to the next one. He turned towards the bar and the bartender nodded towards him. 

“What can I get for ya?” the bartender asked, and then nodded towards the hologram as the Mandalorian approached. 

“You’re here for Valera? That’s not surprising.” the bartender cast his gaze towards the rest of the patrons and returned his gaze to the Mandalorian. Lowering his voice before continuing, he asked. 

“So the rumors are true? Look I don't want any trouble here, maybe it's best you just leave and go after her.”

“What rumors?” The Mandalorian returned, as he turned off the image. The bartender leaned in closer, 

“The rumors… that the Empire is.... still out there?” The bartender filled a pint glass and slid it down the counter towards another patron before glancing back at the Mandalorian and continuing. 

“That’s why you’re after her right? She steals weapons and dumps them. As many as she can get her hands on from what I’ve seen. No one talks about who they’re for, but I know. We all know.” The bartender shook his head. Before adding a final thought on the subject. 

“She’s a good kid, but she’s become well known for screwing others out of certain deals.” He paused before adding, “You didn’t hear it from me, but she usually heads to Tatooine.”

The Mandalorian slowly tapped his gloved fingers on the hologram puck before carefully stowing it away. He nodded towards the bartender and placed a few credits on the bar before stepping away towards the door again. 

“Thanks.” The cantina door opened and the Mandalorian stepped unphased out into the cold once more. It was a short walk to the Razor Crest but enough time for him to wonder why this woman had such a high bounty out for her. 

_‘Is the Empire still out there?’_ The question teased at the corner of his mind as he reboarded his ship and punched in the coordinates to the desert planet. 

———

Valera had already spent longer than she had intended in the cantina. Slowly drawing her index finger around the edge of her long empty glass, she kept a watchful eye on the doorway. 

_‘I won’t be caught twice in a cantina that’s for sure.’_

She paid for her drink and started the long walk through the market stalls, making her way back towards Peli’s hangar. Going from stall to stall was easy, the number of different species walking around her here let her blend in easily enough but it was as she considered a new navigation system for her ship, that she suddenly couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching her. 

_‘They’re here.’_ She thought, giving no sign that she knew, but carefully scanning the crowd as she turned to walk now in the opposite direction of Peli’s hangar. 

_‘Take the long way, stay calm, and lose them. I’ll be fine.’_ She silently chanted the phrase as she made her way slowly through the crowds. Making her way deeper into the stalls, while keeping an eye out for any beskar clad figures, was slow going. Before long she was nearly back to the hangar but looked across the crowd and quietly gasped. There was the Mandalorian silently working his way towards her. Ducking down behind two creatures as they bickered over ship parts, she patted her thigh to check her blaster was still there, reassured by it’s presence she continued moving. 

She grumbled to herself as she tried to watch the Mandalorian working his way through the crowd, she was so close to the garage but there’d be no way she could get there now without being seen. Trying to turn back would be too tedious, and she needed to get to her ship. 

_‘Maybe I can slip by without being noticed, I just need a good distraction…’_ Looking around for something to aid her, she caught sight of a vendor’s basket holding various nuts and bolts. Shrugging to herself that this was as good as she was going to get, she quickly whisked the basket away from the stall and kicked it into the main walkway spilling the contents across the ground. At first nothing really happened, but then one by one complaints were aired and several customers slipped on the small metal objects. Slowing the shuffle of the crowd down to a stand still, Valera stayed ducked down weaving her way across the street and towards the hangar hoping she had not been seen. She nodded towards Peli with a finger to her lips, as she passed her friend, and slipped into the hangar’s office. She took a moment to catch her breath, unholstering her blaster as she did so.

“I can bring you in one of two ways, sweetheart.” The Mandolorian spoke, already rounding the corner Valera had just come from. 

Her finger twitched against the trigger of her blaster as she exited the office and caught sight of her would be captor. Grimacing at the bounty hunter, his blaster already aimed at her, she weighed her options for a moment wondering if she’d be able to get the upperhand in a skirmish. Taking in the silent stare of his visor, and his demeanor, Valera caught sight of Peli hiding in the cockpit of her ship and sighed. Her blaster dropped to the ground with a dull thud and she reluctantly kicked it towards the Mandalorian who picked it up immediately, stowing his blaster in the process. She took in the Mandalorian for another moment, noting the rifle on his back and slowly raised her hands but only enough to show that they were empty. 

“Well I can’t say that I’m surprised that a bounty hunter is after me, but considering they sent a Mandalorian, I must have really pissed someone off. What do you think, Peli?” Valera swept her gaze away from her blaster on the Mandalorian’s hip and over towards Peli as she emerged from Valera’s ship, her hands crossed, and a grumpy look on her face. 

The Mandalorian turned his head towards Peli, “I have no quarrel with you so don’t give me any trouble. I’m just here to collect my bounty.” To which Peli solemnly nodded, looking the Mandalorian up and down before casting a fleeting pointed look at Valera.

“Uhuh suuure you are, just don’t ruin any of my tools. They’re not cheap, you know. I might need them for poker later, but for now, yeah I’m gonna go.” She calmly shooed the pit droids away with her as she quickly retreated and left the area. Choosing to keep her life and her droids intact was the safest thing to do, and understandable although Valera wished for a moment that she had stayed. 

_‘I’ll just have to make it to my ship and hope she can fly…’_ The Mandalorian shifted back into her gaze, taking a slow step towards her as one would approach a trapped animal. He moved gracefully in her eyes, each step a measured and calculated action. She had to admit it was beautiful despite the danger she was now in. Taking a chance, she whirled back into the confines of the small hangar office and slammed the door shut. Taking stock of the papers and random tools scattered on the shelves in front of her, there wasn’t much to offer in ways of protection, except for one. Valera worried her bottom lip with her teeth as she gently lifted a single flash bang she had found nestled on the shelf nearest the door. 

_‘Thank you Peli!!!!’_ She could have kissed the woman if she had been there, this was her escape. Her one chance to make it over to her ship and fly out of here. As quickly as she entered, Valera came flying out of the space and threw the flash bang at the Mandalorian’s rapidly approaching feet. She turned from the flash and dove behind a nearby crate. As soon as the flash went off, she was back on her feet and making a mad dash towards her ship. 

The Mandolorian was only momentarily taken back by the flash it caused. His visor filtered the majority of the light to not blind him, and he regained his vision enough to deploy his grappling hook after her. The line quickly wrapped Valera’s legs together and brought her to her knees within seconds. He stalked over to her, a cloud of dust accompanying every aggravated footstep and shook his head when she twisted into a sitting position and pulled out a knife to cut the line containing her. With a simple jerk of his arm, Valera suddenly found herself lying at the Mandalorian’s feet. He dropped to his knees, straddling her and grasped her wrists, applying more and more pressure until she dropped her blade. The movement and sudden proximity of the Mandalorian took her by surprise, and the knife fell harmlessly from her grasp as she stared up into his stoic visor. 

“Don’t cause any more trouble and do as you’re told.” His voice was cold and domineering through the helmet’s modulator. Shifting both of her wrists to one hand, he reached down to his belt and produced a pair of restraints. After she was secured with her hands in front of her, he moved off of her, pulling her up by the elbow. Once they were both standing, he bent down to remove the line securing her legs together. Once freed, Valera slowly shifted from foot to foot in sullen silence before twisting slightly away from the Mandalorian. 

“Will you… will you grab this pouch here, and leave the credits in it for Peli? It’s the least I can do before anyone kills me…” Valera tilted her head back towards a pouch on her hip. The Mandalorian stood moodily in front of her giving no indication that he’d listened to her or was about to do as she asked. 

“Ah uh unless you were going to take them I suppose…”

“Why do you think someone is going to kill you?” The Mandalorian asked suddenly. He was dusting himself off from their scrabble but turned towards her waiting for her to reply. Valera perked up at the question, and stared at her reflection in his visor, worrying her lip again as she wondered how to answer him. 

“Well… I mean the fact that you’re here to collect the bounty against me means someone high up, _somewhere_ , probably wants me dead. Which means I’ve messed with one too many shipments, haha.” Her laughter was shaky and she closed her eyes. Taking a breath to steel herself as she envisioned the inevitable death that now loomed before her, hoping for something quick and painless. She gave a small shrug and smiled as brightly as she could before she turned back to face the Mandalorian’s visor again, wondering if he would be one of the last beings she’d see before her end.

“At least I left an impression, I suppose. Alright,” she held up her shackled wrists towards the Mandalorian. “Let’s get this over with then. Do I just follow you… or could I... Actually do you take last requests?” She wondered if she could at least let Peli know she wasn’t getting out of this but he brought her out of her thoughts once more.

“How do you know the Empire is still around? Do you have proof?” Ignoring her last request question, his gaze somehow struck her to the core, chilling her even in the heat of Tatooine’s binary sunlight. Flashes of her childhood raced before her eyes, as she relived the memories of her family and town being slaughtered. The crisp white boots of the stormtroopers, and Moff Gideon’s voice as he commanded them to kill everyone in sight. A single tear escaped her eye as she recalled being forced into a vent and hid for days waiting to see if they’d come back for her and finish the job, but they never did. She roughly wiped away the tear with her cuffed hands and shifted her gaze to the ground. 

“They killed my parents when I was a child. A man called Moff Gideon gave them the order.” She whispered the information to her boots as her sadness slowly seeped away and gave way to the anger now blooming in her chest. She squared her shoulders and looked back up towards him. Confused as to why she was sharing so much with her captor, she chalked it up to facing her inevitable death and continued to share her history with him. It was almost cathartic to finally be able to share her true intentions with someone other than Peli. 

“I swore then that I would cause them trouble for what happened. When I was old enough, I came here seeking work, and found Peli. She taught me how to fix ships and keep myself alive and once I was able to pilot them myself, I started sabotaging any Empire shipments I could get my hands on. Guns, ships, slaves, anything to vex Moff Gideon.” The resolve she felt must have shown on her face, the Mandalorian took her in with a slight tilt of his head and only gave her a stony silence as a response. 

They both startled when they heard voices coming closer, Valera waited for the newcomers to appear,

“They must be here for Peli.”

“No, they’re bounty hunters.” The Mandalorian replied, and it was then that he decided it was time to leave. Throwing Valera over his shoulder, he made his way towards her ship, an old Alpha-3 starfighter. Considering it for a moment, he continued moving past her ship and back out into the crowded streets. They only received a few wary glaces from passersby as he carried her out of the city limits and towards the Razor Crest. 

Valera should have fought to get away from his grasp but something about him gave her reason enough to stop and think. Aside from the cuffs she now wore, he hadn’t been as ruthless as she had assumed he would be. In fact he had been almost kind, which left her quietly confused. 

_‘Does he believe me?’_ she thought quietly to herself. Hoping that was true, she’d be lying if she said it hadn’t been a lot to endure over the years. It was hard work combatting something everyone else thought was long gone. She had certainly made more enemies than friends, but she felt her mettling was worth the effort, even if it was minimal in the eyes of the Empire. She could still feel the sting of her parent’s death, and the Mandalorian’s questions seemed more out of concern than of someone who’s working with the Empire. She clung to the hope that her gut feeling would be right about him and gave an embarrassed, half hearted wave towards Peli as she caught sight of her walking out of a cantina, gleefully counting credits as they passed. Peli’s smile faded as she caught sight of Valera swung over the Mandalorian’s shoulder and she returned the wave with a look of concern.

Once they were on board the Razor Crest, with the bay door closed, the Mandalorian dropped Valera a little unceremoniously onto the cold steel flooring and nodded towards the carbonite storage area. 

“Stay here while I get us into space. Behave yourself for a moment while I do that. Otherwise I’ll have to freeze you.” Without waiting for her reply, the Mandalorian disappeared up a short ladder towards the cockpit of the ship. The engines burst to life soon after his disappearance, and a soft glow suddenly filled the cargo bay as the lights around Valera illuminated. With her wrists still cuffed it took her a moment to get up off of the floor, but once she was standing, she took in her surroundings. 

The Razon Crest was larger than her starfighter, but still fairly small. It would have comfortably housed four crewmen if it weren’t for the carbonite taking up so much space. As it is, she slowly started making her way through the space investigating the area. Two sleep areas, one was clearly in use, the other was full of storage and clothes from what she could see. She pressed a few buttons on a panel near the ladder the Mandalorian had used moments ago, and suddenly a weapons vault opened behind her. She gasped at the sheer number of weapons stored before her, and quickly closed the vault. She glanced at the ladder the Mandalorian had used and wondered if she could climb up to the cockpit with her hands bound. Doubting her ability to accomplish that without making a fool of herself, she walked over to a bench and waited until the clanging of the Mandalorian’s boots on the ladder announced his return. 

The Mandalorian hadn’t wasted any time in getting the Crest out of the planet’s orbit and into hyperspace. Once the coordinates for Nevarro were punched in and he was confident they weren’t being followed, he had returned to the cargo bay and took in Valera as she waited for him. Briskly stepping towards her, he suddenly towered over her, nearly caging her against her seat, and she stilled, wondering what he was after. He reached forward and grasped the cuffs that held her wrists together. He unclasped them and stood back, replacing them on his belt and pulling her bounty puck out again. He turned it on, holding it out for her to see.

“If what you said is true, and the remains of the Empire are behind your bounty, I... won’t turn you in.”

“W-what?” Valera rubbed her wrists where the cuffs had started to rub, and worried her lip as she gazed at the Mandalorian. His helmet vexed her, the dark glossy visor only reflected the overhead lights, giving nothing away as he continued.

“My ship is in need of repairs, _continuous_ repairs. I am offering to take you on as my mechanic instead of turning you in. Do we have a deal?” He closed his hand around the bounty puck and her image vanished, storing it in a pocket, he turned towards her once more waiting for her response.

“So either I _do_ help you and don’t get turned in, or I _don’t_ help you and you turn me in? Am I getting that right? It’s a hell of a catch-22 that’s for sure.” She patted away some dirt from her pants, leaving tiny dust clouds around her knees as she mulled her decision over for a moment. The Mandalorian offered up no additional information for her as she thought it through. 

“Alright… I’ll do it. But on the condition that I still get to mess with Empire shipments when I can. Deal?” She stood up and struck her hand out towards the Mandalorian and gave a small huff of small triumph as she added her addendum to their agreement. If she was going to stay alive, she still had a chance to interfere with Moff Gideon. She gave a nod towards the ship taking it in with a more critical eye.

“From what I can see, your ship looks like it is going to need a _lot_ of work. Continuous is an understatement depending on how old this thing is, letting me interrupt a shipment or two here and there would hardly get in the way of things.” She gave him a hopeful glance, her hand still held out between them. He left her silently waiting for what felt like a small eternity. She swallowed hard wondering if she was asking for too much, and then he broke the silence at last.

“Fine. But you’ll do it without interfering with any ship repairs and any bounty work I have, understand? If you’re not on my ship when I’m ready to leave, I’ll leave you behind.” There was no malice behind his words but his stern tone made it clear he was true to his word. He clasped his hand around hers, sealing their deal and Valera’s fate, whatever it may be, along with it. He dropped her hand just as quickly as he had grasped it, and stepped away, gesturing towards the sleeping space he was using as storage. 

“This will be yours. You can do what you like to make it liveable.” And with that he left her alone as he retreated to the cockpit.

Without the restraints, Valera was confident enough to follow him up and soon joined him in the small space. Taking the co-pilot chair behind him she took in the controls and wondered just how old his ship really was. Sitting silently for a while, Valera finally realized that she only had the clothes on her back and the credits in her pouch. 

_‘I suppose I’ll have to buy new clothes... and tools too.’_ She sighed and leaned back into the chair with her hands over her face, wondering just how much work the ship would really need. She was mentally cataloguing new tools she’d need when the Mandalorian broke the silence. 

“We can pick up your things the next time I need to go to Tatooine.” Not bothering to turn towards her as he spoke. “I have tools on the ship that you can use as well. And if you need anything else you can buy it on Nevarro.”

Valera slowly nodded towards his back in response. He continued to confuse her, she had thought that all Mandalorian were ruthless hunters, but his continued kindness towards her, although a little gruff, was vastly different from what she had heard of Mandalorians. 

“Thank you, that would be nice.”She sat silently for a moment before adding, “I uh, if you want to set up a schedule or something for um…” she paused as he swiveled towards her, just enough to watch her through his visor as she swallowed her doubt and continued. “I um, I don’t know much about Mandalorians but if you ever want time alone or time to go without your helmet.. Just uh, just let me know and I can make myself scarce.” She squinted at him for a moment in unease, blushing slightly in embarrassment and ruminating on if he thought she was crazy for suggesting he remove _anything_ with another being on board. He only stared at her, his helmet tilting for a while as he silently took in what she was implying. His silence was deafening and she decided it was better to retreat to the safety of the cargo bay for the time being. 

“Thank you.” He spoke as she stood to leave. She cast her gaze at his visor once more and nodded before descending from the cockpit. She was still curious about who or what exactly was under that helmet and whether this arrangement was a good idea at all, but only time would tell.


	2. Intrepid Endeavors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tensions grow high as Mando takes on a bounty that will change his life. Enter the child.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some mention of blood and wounds in here but not too detailed or gory, hope it's alright!

After four months on board the Razor Crest, Valera had fully settled into her new life working for the Mandalorian. They had briefly returned to Tatooine and she now had her clothes and a few keepsakes on board as well as all of the tools Peli felt kind enough to spare for her, for a small price of course. Keeping up with the ship’s repairs had been a monumental task. The wiring was old and frayed, and from what she could tell, the ship was only able to run half as well as it could if she were able to get it fully restored. She didn’t mind though, it was good work and kept her busy while the Mandalorian was off hunting down bounties. 

The oddity of their situation was not lost on either of them but they lived amicably enough. Sharing meals was out of the question, but their shared time in the cockpit, traveling towards their next destinations or discussing tracking plans, grew to be something they both cherished. Valera had assumed the Mandalorian had preferred to be alone, but he never dismissed her when she joined him, seating herself in the co-pilot’s chair. 

Their initial discussions of ship repairs slowly took a turn towards curiosity mostly on Valera’s part. She found it was easier to lure the Mandalorian out of his shell when he was passionate about the topic at hand. They had shared several rousing conversations over the best way to pilot his ship, with one particularly heated discussion earning Valera his silence for over a week. But other conversations were more amicable and she found that his love for his bounty hunting extended fully towards his love for his ship. 

“She may be old, but she gets me to where I need to go.” He turned to fully face Valera as she pushed him for upgrading the navigation once more. 

“But just hear me out, with a droid to run navigation and diagnostics she could be even better! If we just-” she didn’t get any further before he banged his hand against the arm of his chair and swivelled back towards the console. 

“No. Droids.” His stark response silenced her for a moment. She was used to his brusque demeanor by now and simply sat in the silence that followed. It didn’t feel prudent to push him on the subject for the moment, so she chose instead to change it entirely. Valera studied the console panel in front of her for a moment longer before broaching the new topic.

“Are we headed to Nevarro again?” Nevarro had also been a point of contention between the two, but only in regards for her safety. When he told her he wouldn’t turn her in, he later revealed that others more than likely had a bounty puck meant for her as well. 

“Yes.” The word hung in the air like a hollow threat. She knew she’d run the risk of capture if she left the safety of the ship but to be cooped up on Nevarro was always a gamble. Any other bounty hunter could have a puck with her name on it and she was practically handing herself to them gift wrapped in a shiny silver ship. They had agreed that she would stay on the ship whenever the need arose and she stood now to make use of herself elsewhere while she bided her time.

———

It wasn’t long before they landed at one of Nevarro’s spaceport. With Valera tucked safely away in her sleeping quarters, the Mandalorian went about unloading his frozen bounties. Once done, he made his way towards a nearby cantina to meet up with Greef Karga and collect his reward. The cantina he entered was dreary and a veil of camaraderie hung in the air as many bounty hunters and travellers conversed with one another. The Mandalorian noted the hush that momentarily fell over the crowd as he found Greef at his usual table and joined him there. This was nothing new to him so he ignored the short silence as he turned in his trackers and got down to his usual business of procuring new bounties. 

Greef was his usual self trying to undersell the bounties he had to offer, claiming the highest was a mere 5,000 credits but the Mandalorian wasn’t having it. Relenting after a moment, Greef leaned closer offering him a job under the table.

“No puck, face to face. Direct commission. No chain code.” He pulled out a card from his pocket and held it out for the Mandalorian who studied it momentarily, took it, and stood to leave as quickly as he could.

———

Valera hated the waiting part of their arrangement. She didn’t mind giving the Mandalorian time he needed to be alone when they were travelling, that was different. But when he wasn’t there, time slowed to a crawl. She had grown to enjoy his company as much as she had Peli’s, and took small pride in taking care of the Razor Crest. It had taken a few tries, but she had proven her worth as a mechanic several times over now as she had slowly brought the ship up to her standards. Yes they fought over repairs from time to time, but she realized the Mandalorian had his own way of showing his appreciation of a job well done. She had no lack of tools at her disposal, and it seemed that every time she made a mental note of needing a new part or more wiring, it would appear before she could mention it. 

_’Don’t get caught up in feelings, he’s just concerned for his ship is all.’_ Shaking her head to clear her mind, her heart poked softly at the kindling of her attachment to the Mandalorian. It was a new spark she had so far tried to stamp out and ignore. Unsure of when it started, and well aware of how silly she felt for feeling anything towards the mysterious bounty hunter. She shook her head a second time and returned to the work at hand. 

She was testing a rewired circuit panel when she finally heard the creaking sound of the bay door announcing the Mandalorian’s arrival. Waiting until the Crest had taken off to join him in the cockpit, she left the panel in her room and quickly ascended the steps to the cockpit. As soon as she was settled in she asked where they were headed next.

“Arvala-7, got a big bounty but,” he replied shifting in his seat, before continuing, “you’re not going to like it.” His gaze remained locked onto the console in front of him but he could hear her shift around in her seat for a moment. 

“Why wouldn’t I like it..?” Her eyes narrowed at the back of the Mandalorian’s helmet as she waited for his reply. 

“It’s an Imperial job.” Came his short reply, running his thumb along the steering yoke in his hand. He knew the job wouldn’t sit well with her but with the two of them on board and the repairs for his ship, he needed the credits to keep them fed and well stocked. His shoulders dipped as he turned towards Valera. 

“I know it’s not ideal, but we need it.” He watched her face intently, her features contorting from unease, to anger, to something unreadable, resignation perhaps. In their months together he had avoided taking Imperial bounties knowing her dislike of potential Empire ties but this job would keep them going for months to come. He wondered if it had been worth taking as he studied her reaction to the news.

Swallowing the immediate fear that clawed at her chest, her initial thought had been to argue with him. Her anger towards the Empire flared and it took her a moment to control her temper and keep her reaction in check. 

“I get why you took it, but you’ll hopefully understand why I don’t agree with it.” She brought her knees up into the seat and wrapped her arms around them. Suddenly feeling like that child hiding behind the grates once more, the unease of now helping the very people she worked so hard to undermine did not sit well with her. 

“I know. This will be the only one.” He turned back towards the console as a pang of guilt nibbled at his conscience. He knew her hatred for the Imperial matched his hatred for droids but it was a big job and he was a bounty hunter. She knew that when she agreed to join him. 

———

The look on her face was still fresh in his mind as they approached Arvala-7. Valera had done nothing but stay true to her word and done her best to keep his ship in the air. This almost felt like a betrayal of some sort but the Mandalorian pushed the thought aside as he gently landed the Crest and initiated the opening of the bay door. Valera was already off of the ship and stretching her limbs as he joined her on the crest of the hill. For a moment they stood in silence but Valera turned towards the Mandalorian, a slight frown still on her lips as she watched him check his tracking beacon. 

“I’ll get to work on the ship again while you’re gone. I think there’s a loose panel somewhere, don’t want to lose it when we hit the atmosphere again.” She turned towards the ship but paused and looked back towards him. 

“Do you,... hear something?” The words were barely out of her mouth before the Mandalorian swung his rifle off of his back and swept the scope over the terrain before them. 

“Stay back.” He called to her, keeping his eyes on the horizon. 

She nodded and had the forethought to return to the Crest to grab her blaster just in case. As the doors to the arsenal opened, she heard a roar from outside and quickly grabbed her blaster and bolted back out the bay door. When she caught sight of the Mandalorian again, he was under a large gray creature, his arm clamped in its mouth and a second one was making its way towards him. Without a moment’s hesitation, Valera leveled her blaster and fired a stunning shot at the second beast. Hitting it in conjunction with a tranquilizer dart the Mandalorian had fired, the second beast careened to a stop, now unconscious at his feet. Valera quickly holstered the blaster and ran to his side to assess any damage that had been done hoping he was ok. 

The Mandalorian pulled his arm from the blurrg beside him and looked up as Valera skirted to a stop in the dirt next to him. He stilled as she dropped to her knees next to him and reached for his arm. A surprised gasp escaped his helmet as she gently checked for the damage the blurrg had done. 

“Ha, you’re ok.” She sighed in relief. She let go of his arm and rolled back to sit on the ground. Thankfully only his armor had suffered any damage but her relief was short lived as she caught sight of the Mandalorian gazing over her shoulder. Turning to follow his line of sight, Valera took in the Ugnaught that had rode up on his own blurrg and was gazing at the pair with keen interest.

“You’re a Mandalorian.” The Ugnaught spoke. A statement, not a question as he watched the two rise to stand in front of him. 

“I will help you.” He continued before leading his blurrg away from their ship.

Valera turned towards the Mandalorian and glanced back at the retreating figure of the Ugnaught. 

“Can we trust him? For all we know he sent those creatures after us.” She beat at the dirt on her pants and crossed her arms in front of her. 

“I don’t think we have a choice.” The Mandalorian replied ruefully picking at his damaged armor before turning his head towards Valera.

“You’re a better shot than I took you for. What do you say to joining me on this trip? If we need to shoot our way out of things, I doubt you would hesitate.” He still felt the gnawing guilt of taking the mission to begin with, but after seeing her jump into action he felt he could trust her enough not to shoot him if things went south. 

“Yeah, alright. I guess.” She had only taken a moment before agreeing, hoping more than anything that she’d be able to blast her way through a few Imperials before the end of the day. 

———

They quickly locked up the Razor Crest and followed the Ugnaught to his moisture farm. His blurrg and the two that had attacked them, were grazing quietly in a paddock next to his home. Once inside the dwelling, Kuiil, revealed that they were not the first ones to go after this particular bounty and that all of their predecessors had died trying.

“Well _that’s_ comforting…” Valera frowned at Kuiil as he ignored her comment and proceeded to negotiate his navigator’s price of half of the blurrgs.

“You can have both of them if we return alive.” She huffed at the Ugnaught as she started to wonder just how good of an idea it was to join the Mandalorian on this mission. 

After expressing their need to ride the blurrg to their destination, Valera and the Mandalorian ventured back outside to wrangle their new mounts. The Mandalorian had gone first, struggling to maintain his position astride the blurrg as it threw him for a third time. Valera unsuccessfully covered a laugh with a cough, earning a woeful look from the Mandalorian as he approached Kuiil and asked for a speeder bike. Kuiil merely shook his head, and reminded the Mandalorian of his ancestors who rode mythosaurs before him. He then turned towards Valera and extended his hand towards the other blurrg.

“How about you take a turn?” He gave the Mandalorian a discerning glance before watching as Valera carefully approached the blurrg. Nodding at Kuiil, Valera had made her way into the corral and kept a wary eye on both blurrgs as she approached her intended mount.

“Hey there, easy girl.” She spoke in soft tones to the blurrg as she slowly approached it. 

“Easy now, I don’t want to hurt you. And you don’t want to hurt me, right? Good,.. good girl.” The blurrg snorted at her but appeared to be otherwise disinterested in her approach, watching her balefully as she extended her hand towards it. Valera gently placed her hand on the blurrg’s head and patted it for a moment before grasping it’s collar and hoisting herself up onto its back. Immediately the blurrg reared back attempting to throw her but she held fast to its collar and was not so easily shaken. She had run enough trips to Canto Bight and had witnessed enough of the races there to know how to stay aloft. She had even convinced a rider to take her out on a fathier once before she ditched her guide for a long canter down the beach. He had not been pleased to hear that her fathier had somehow escaped not only her, but its harness as well. She had merely shrugged and instead let him believe that he had valiantly rescued her from the wild creature instead. 

The blurrg made a more feeble attempt to remove Valera from its back before finally accepting her presence there. Her hair was whipped into a frenzy as she turned in triumph towards Kuiil and the Mandalorian. She was grinning from ear to ear as she coaxed the creature into a trot around the enclosure.

“I did it!” She waved happily at the Mandalorian from her position on top of the blurrg and Kuiil smiled, nudging the Mandalorian’s arm and waited until he had caught the Mandalorian’s attention.

“She has a curious way with creatures does she not.” Kuiil’s provocation was enough to vex the Mandalorian into action. Once more approaching his blurrg as Valera now rode a slow circle around him. He remounted his blurrg, holding onto it with a vice like grip as it attempted and failed to throw him again. Kuiil looked on approvingly at the two as their comfort with the creatures grew. 

“You did it!” Valera reigned in her blurrg close to the Mandalorian’s and he waved a nervous hand in her direction. She smiled endearingly at him as he steadied his mount and turned his gaze towards her. A laugh crackled to life from his helmet as he made to move away from her.

“You look like you’ve been sucked into space.” He called over his shoulder as he approached Kuiil and discussed their departure. 

“Yeah? Well at least I didn’t fall off my blurrg!” She laughed after him, doing her best to smooth her hair back into a more presentable ponytail. 

———

They took off shortly after, making their way quickly across the planet’s rocky terrain. As they came to a stop at the crest of a hill, an encampment sprawled out below them. The Mandalorian spoke with Kuiil for a moment before offering him payment for their trip. The Ugnaught declined and expressed his wish to be rid of the group before them and simply wanted peace to return to those that called the planet their home. 

After surveying the group below them, the Mandalorian turned towards Valera and shook his head. 

“You should return with Kuiil and wait for me.”

“What, why? What happened to having backup?” She dismounted from her blurrg and joined him on the cliff’s edge, gazing down at the figures below.

“There’s a bounty droid down there. If he sees you, he’ll want to turn you in too.” He put away the telescope he had been using and stared at her wordlessly, willing her to comply.

“No. You brought me along for a reason, a bounty droid only adds to the chance that things could go south. You asked me to come with. So let me help.” She chewed on her lip as she cast her gaze away from him and back down at the encampment. “I can at least pick some of them off from a rooftop.” 

The Mandalorian stood stock still for a moment longer before turning towards Kuiil, letting him know they would be venturing out together. His annoyance was made plain through the modulator of his helmet as his voice carried over to Valera. He then stomped past her and down a narrow path towards the camp.

———

By the time they had made it down to the encampment the bounty droid was already announcing the need for the Nikto sentries in front of him to comply with his orders. The Mandalorian nodded silently to Valera and pointed to their left. She nodded and split off from their path making her way towards the nearest building. She struggled for a moment, but was able to scale the side of it easily enough once she had stacked a few crates to aid her. 

The shooting started as soon as she was up. The view down below was a cacophony of blaster bolts and noise. Valera was immediately assaulted by a sentry, catching her off guard as she attempted to find her footing on the roof. The gunman immediately tackled her to the ground and attempted to wrestle her blaster out of her hand. Valera scratched at his face with her free hand before reaching for her trusty knife hidden in her boot. Once freed, she buried the blade in the Nikto’s side once, twice, and a third time before he eventually stilled on top of her. She resheathed her knife and grasped the lifeless body, rolling with it to free herself before rolling it off of the roof entirely. 

As soon as she was freed, a blaster bolt raked through her arm and she whirled around to see three more sentries on the rooftops. All of whom were now shooting at her. She quickly scrambled behind the second story of the building she was on. Tearing off a strip from the bottom of her shirt she quickly wrapped her injured arm and crouched down. She raised her blaster in her good hand as she sat listening to the continued blaster fire happening around her. Her patience won out and soon a sentry appeared around the corner. Her blaster caught him in the leg first, and then in the chest. His returned fire only just missed her boots as she vaulted over him and rounded the corner to take out the two sentries across the way. 

———

On the ground, the Mandalorian and the bounty droid, IG-11, had successfully collaborated and had taken down half of the gunmen. With IG-11 drawing fire, the Mandalorian swiftly took out the new gunman running a laser cannon, and dispatched the rest of the gunmen including the remaining two on the roof. He didn’t immediately catch sight of Valera anywhere, but he hoped she had stayed relatively safe during the skirmish. 

Valera caught the tail end of the Mandalorian’s work with the laser cannon and dropped down against the roof’s ledge to catch her breath. The adrenaline coursing through her began to slow and a searing pain became more apparent as she turned her attention to her wounded arm. The makeshift bandage she had tied was already soaked red, a small stream trickled down her arm as she loosened and then re-tied the fabric. Thankful for the well stocked med kit in the ship, she carefully stood once more and made her way off of the roof.

A single blaster shot rang out just as Valera's feet hit the ground. She startled and reached for her blaster immediately before swinging out into the open. A figure appeared in the still smoldering doorway further into the encampment and soon revealed itself to be the Mandalorian. She sighed in relief and re-holstered her blaster before making her way towards him. She paused about half way as she caught sight of a strange pod hovering in close proximity behind him. 

_’Wasn’t the bounty supposed to be 50? What is this?’_ She let the bounty hunter close the gap between them and fell into step with him as he continued their path back up the hill. 

“You’re injured.” Surprisingly it was the Mandalorian who broke their silence first, pointing towards her arm. Valera just shrugged and pointed at his ruined chest plate. 

“And your armor is damaged. I’ll be fine as soon as we get back to the ship.” She cast a wary glance at the pod quietly hovering along behind them, 

“Is that... what we came here for…?” The dingy looking pod was closed but she could hear some sort of noise coming from within. 

The Mandalorian stopped in his tracks and turned towards the pod. Hitting a button on his wrist, the top of the pod opened to reveal a small green creature with large brown eyes and even larger ears. Valera gasped as soon as the child was revealed, momentarily taken in by his appearance. She reached out a tentative hand towards the child who eagerly grasped her fingers and cooed in response. Realization that he was indeed who they might have come there for slowly dawned on her and she turned in an instant to face the Mandalorian again, the child’s small hand still clasping her hand. 

“He’s a child. Why do they want a child?” Already feeling a sense of duty to protect the little guy, she gave the Mandalorian a furious glare. “You can’t give them a child.”

The Mandalorian stalked over to her, his temper already flaring. He stood to his full height in front of her. He was only a few inches taller, but much larger in stature, and laid a heavy hand on the pod pulling it and the child forward and out of her grasp. 

“This. Is the job. If you don’t like it then you can quit. I’ll drop you off wherever you want.” His gruff voice took some of the heat out of Valera’s fury but not enough to cause her to back down. She stepped forward again and pulled the child out of the pod altogether. Cradling him to her chest, she glared again at the Mandalorian. 

“I don’t care how much they offered to pay. You can _not_ turn a child over to the Imperials. I won’t let you.” She took a half step in the wrong direction and the Mandalorian reared on her once again, immediately invading her space. 

“Clearly you’re not cut out for bounty hunting. Now give me the child, and let’s go.” She gulped back the twinge of fear he had sparked in her and held her ground. Making up her mind as she stared up into the visor of his helmet. 

“No.” She gritted her teeth and with a flippant kick of her heels, ran towards a nearby cove with the child. 

_’Dank farrik, back to this?’_ The Mandalorian didn’t bother deploying anything after her, knowing there was nowhere on the planet where she could escape to, and simply sighed before closing the pod and stalking after her. Their chase was reminiscent of their first encounter all those months ago, quick and short lived. When the Mandalorian rounded the rocky outcrop, he was surprised to see Valera and the child standing off against a group of Trandoshans who had seemingly dropped in out of nowhere. Valera already had her blaster out and leveled at the Trandoshans but with the child on her hip, and her wound still fresh, she wasn’t going to be able to hold them off. 

The Mandalorian wasted no time in confronting the Trandoshan nearest to him. Their vibro axes clashed with his armor, and he caught sight of a tracker blinking from their waist as he parried a particularly heavy blow. He gritted his teeth and quickly dispatched the Trandoshan that had attacked him, pulling the vibro axe from the crumpling body before him then wheeling around and absorbing a swing of the axe from a second attacker. 

“They’re here for the child.” He shouted at Valera, as he continued to grapple with his assailant.

Valera shook her head, the blood freely flowing from her wound mixed with the red of the soil as it dripped off of her arm. Unfortunately this was the same arm holding her blaster, and it was starting to droop. The Trandoshan facing off with her noticed her injury and immediately swung his axe towards her. She took a half step back and fired off a round but it missed. The Trandoshan crept closer to her and struck out again as she continued to back away. Her back came in contact with a sharp outcrop of rocks and she swore. Trying to raise her blaster higher before firing, and only caught a blurred movement towards her before the world suddenly went black. The Trandoshan stood over Valera’s unconscious body as she sagged towards the ground.

A small shriek drew the Mandalorian’s attention from his battle for a second, and he caught sight of Valera and the child on the ground. He hissed as the Trandoshan he was fighting sunk his vibro axe into the clothed joint of his arm. Roaring now as anger emanated from him, he knew he had to get to Valera and quickly. He kicked the Trandoshan away from him, and fired a round from his rifle into its gut. The Trandoshan was still falling as the Mandalorian spun towards the last Trandoshan standing over Valera. Their body immediately exploded in front of the child as the blast from the Mandalorian’s rifle ended the fight. 

The child silently stared at the Mandalorian, a strange look crossed his features. As quickly as it had appeared, the child turned towards Valera’s unconscious form and patted at her hair, attempting to wake her. The Mandalorian huffed at the child’s attempts, and simply keyed in a command for the forgotten pod to resume it’s path behind him. He stepped forward and scooped the child up into his arms, lowering him into the pod before turning back towards Valera.

 _’What am I supposed to do with you now?’_ He studied her for a moment, noting that her arm was still bleeding, then lifted her body gently. Holding her close to his chest as he resumed their slow trek back to the Razon Crest.

———

The events of the day had drawn too much time out of their trip and night approached sooner than he would have liked. He laid Valera’s body down gently before setting up a small light for him to see. The child gurgled at them from his pod, reaching towards Valera who had yet to stir. 

“They must have hit her harder than I thought.” the Mandalorian mused as he removed the soiled wrap on her arm. Inspecting it in the low light for a moment, he pulled out a field cauterizer to close the wound. Half way through his work Valera groaned and he sat back letting her come to. The child slipped easily out of his pod and waddled to Valera’s side, patting at her good arm. 

She found her voice, giving a croaking laugh as she felt the child’s small attempt to bide for her attention, but groaned again as she became more aware of the pain she felt in her arm and at the back of her head. 

“How long was I out?” Her head pounded aggressively as she opened her eyes and attempted to sit up. 

“A while. I just stopped to take care of your arm.” His answer was accompanied by a hand on her shoulder, she stilled at his touch but hissed as he started up the cauterizer and resumed his work. The child shied away from the cauterizer but stayed close to Valera as she silently let the Mandalorian help her. Once he was done, he sat back and started to address his own wound making Valera frown. The child sat quietly next to Valera for another moment before making his way towards the Mandalorian with his arm once outstretched. 

“No no,” Valera chastised the child and stood, catching him before he could get too close to the Mandalorian. 

“Hey now, let’s get you tucked back into your pod for now. Huh?” She shushed the child as he babbled at her, gently tucking him into the pod before turning back to watch the Mandalorian continue to struggle with his wound. She fought with herself for a moment, knowing he had been nice enough to her these past few months and just now, but anger flared in her again as she looked back at the child for a moment. 

_’How can he just turn you over to the Imperials without a second thought?’_ The thought concerned her enough to know it was time to leave his company. Regardless of her growing fondness for him, she knew she couldn’t stand by and watch as he handed the child over to the Imperials. He had agreed to let her interfere with Empire shipments, but this was more than that. A child was at stake. She steeled herself and nodded at the Mandalorian, making up her mind before getting frustrated watching him fail to cauterize his wound. 

“Come on, I’ll do it.” She stomped over to him and swatted his hand away from the wound, grabbing the cauterizer from him in the process. Silence fell between them as the Mandalorian stilled and watched her slowly close up his arm. Her tongue was caught between her teeth as she concentrated on the wound. The silence gave him time to think. Watching her precision with the cauterizer, he knew he was about to lose her help over this mission. He didn’t like the feeling that settled in his stomach around what had happened but didn’t know how to fix it.

“Why are you helping me?” His question suddenly hung in the air going unanswered as she finished her work and held the cauterizer out for him to take. He pulled it from her hand, slowly returning it to its place before returning his gaze to her, tilting his head as he waited for her to respond. 

She had moved back towards the pod and the child, letting him grasp her fingers as she wondered indeed why? Why help him when he had all but signed this child’s death warrant by taking this bounty? But her own thoughts betrayed her, bringing up their initial month of working with one another, and the strange but not unwelcome companionship that had followed. _’Because deep down I’m pretty sure you’re a good guy.’_ She sighed and pressed her fingertips to the bridge of her nose annoyed at herself for being in this position.

“Because it’s no use if we’re both bleeding out here, and I still need you to get off this hunk of rock, that’s why.” She snapped at him. Her words held only a partial bite as she turned her attention back towards the child.

As was usual for him, the Mandalorian didn’t respond to her quip. His helmet silently reflected the last few rays of sunlight for a moment as they faded over the horizon. He knew why she was mad at him, that was plain, but the price was too much not to have taken the bounty. 

“I didn’t know it would be a child.” He spoke a while later, watching as the odd pair before him played together. They had taken to chasing one another in front of the lamp, making sure to stay within its glow, but it was enough to soon tire the child out for the night. 

“Yeah, well, it is.” Was her reply, sitting down near the lamp and reclining on her uninjured arm, facing away from him. She didn’t catch the slight slump of his helmet but he then quickly shook his head, casting his thoughts away as he turned off the lamp. The light of the stars above them gently illuminated their surroundings for the night as they both drifted into a restless sleep.

———

They had both woken early, both unable to sleep easily out in the open, and slowly made their way back towards his ship. Valera had brought only a small amount of food and offered what little she had to the child who greedily scarfed it down. She laughed before casting a sideways glance towards the Mandalorian wondering when he had eaten last. 

_’Not that I care…’_ she thought to herself but a knowing voice deep within her whispered _you do._

Their trek back to the ship had taken most of the morning and it was with a sigh of relief that they crested a final hill between them and the ship. The relief however was cut short as the towering shape of a jawa sandcrawler overshadowed the Razon Crest and the jawas who were actively stripping it for parts.

“No, no, no, no no!” The Mandalorian shouted before dropping to his knees, his rifle was immediately in his hands. He obliterated one jawa before reloading and firing again, and taking out a second, as they quickly regrouped and fled to their crawler. The Mandalorian rushed after them, doing his best to stop the sandcrawler as it lurched forward.

Valera gasped and stayed with the child as they made a slower approach towards what was left of the Razor Crest. She could have cried from the damage they had done to it. All of her hard work ripped apart at the seams and carefully removed by the jawa’s tiny hands. Realizing they were officially stuck on the planet gave her a tiny spark of hope knowing that she would have more time to rationalize with the Mandalorian about the child. She shielded her eyes against the sun and gazed towards where the Mandalorian and the crawler had headed. As she caught sight of him dangling off of the side of the large fortress, she laughed. Watching in amusement as odds and ends were thrown at him by the jawas. 

_’Serves him right.’_ She turned back towards the stripped Crest and got to work. Running diagnostics on what was left of it as she waited for the Mandalorian to return.

It took a while before he made it back to the ship but once he had, she appeared before him and wiped some grease off of her hands. All business, she crossed her arms in front of her and cocked her hip out before addressing him. 

“She’s missing about half of her engine. I got the lights working and they surprisingly left the carbonite hangar alone, but that was it. We obviously can’t fly anywhere so what do we do now?” She looked away from the Mandalorian as the child appeared beside her with a wrench in his hand. He waved it slowly towards the Mandalorian in welcome before Valera picked him up and removed the tool.

The Mandalorian craned his neck up as he took in the skeleton of his home. The loss of his home weighed heavily on him as he stalked slowly past her and entered the ship. Taking in what little remained of it, he sighed and rested his hand on a bare support beam. Descending the ramp and walking past Valera again, he stood watching the horizon as the sandcrawler slowly disappeared from view.

 _’I hate jawas.’_ He thought, viciously vowing to see them all torn apart. He dropped his gaze and kicked at a rock near his boots forming a plan. 

“Let’s find Kuiil. We’ll need a ride if we’re going to find those thieves again.” He wasted no time and waited for no answer before he headed back the way they had come, hoping that Kuiil would have answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! This took longer than I thought it would to write but I like the way it's turning out! Hoping to turn these out a chapter a week but we'll see how things go. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy it!


	3. Fostering Fugitives

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the child saves Mando from the mudhorn, he has a change of heart. Will a plan to steal from the Empire work in their favor? Or will he be forced to hand over the child and Valera.

Kuiil seemed only marginally surprised by their return, admitting that he thought they had died. Valera immediately wandered off to visit the blurrgs as they lowed at her, vying for her attention. She picked up the child as she made her way over to the creatures and the Mandalorian and Kuiil continued to talk amongst themselves over the jawa situation. 

“You two make a strong team.” Kuiil commented and he watched Valera and the child soon turn their attention towards catching a frog. The Mandalorian followed his gaze and they stood in silence together; watching as Valera and the child made several attempts to capture the leggy creature that was always just out of their reach. Upon successfully capturing it, Valera cried out as the child attempted to eat their quarry. 

“We’re not a team.” The Mandalorian replied, but he wondered whether that was true. They had certainly worked well together during her time on the ship. Her constant attempts to bring droids into the mix had frustrated him to no end. And she left tools in her wake like a rancor left drool, but he had grown accustomed to her and if he was honest with himself, her presence hadn’t been unwanted. Travelling alone for as long as he had been, had always seemed the logical choice. It was faster to do things alone with no concern for others, but bringing Valera onboard, had immediately proved him wrong. The burden of the Crest’s upkeep had seen to that and he was a fool to not at least acknowledge her abilities with a wrench. Kuiil watched the inner turmoil of the Mandalorian before turning back towards his home.

“I have spoken.” He let the statement sit with Mando as he went about collecting items for their trip. Returning with what he felt he needed, Kuiil called to Valera and they were soon on their way in search of the sandcrawler. 

Although a storm slowed their travels, they caught up to the jawas the following day. Slowly approaching the caravan, they were met with caution and blasters. 

“Well they certainly remember you Mando,” Valera laughed as she stepped off of the shuttle they’d ridden on and stretched. Tossing her blaster at Kuiil’s command, she wandered over to pick through the groupings of mixed parts the Jawas were guarding. Soon making a pile of her own, she nodded at Mando. 

“She’s all here, this is everything we need.” The Jawas conversed amongst themselves before setting Mando off by asking him to trade his beskar. After a brief fire scare, they settled on one request. An egg. With the agreement made, they traveled with the Jawas as close as they could to the egg’s location. Mando stood to leave ready to get this over with but paused and turned back towards the child in his pod. Programing the pod to follow him, he stepped towards Valera catching her off guard at the sudden intrusion.

“ _He’s_ coming with _me_ so we don’t have a repeat of _yesterday _.” To which Valera scowled at him and shook her head.__

“That’s fine! It’s not like you can get off of this rock without me. Take him with you! I don’t care, as long as you keep him safe!” Her eyes searched the depths of his visor daring him to question the validity of her statement but he didn’t. Instead he clenched his jaw, and held her gaze for a moment longer before storming off in search of the egg. The pod hovered along quietly behind his disappearing form. 

__———_ _

__The rest of the day had passed by painstakingly slow for Valera. Having learned bits and pieces of Jawaese, she had spent the afternoon content with conversing with the Jawas and Kuiil over different engine parts and how to make repairs to droid units. All the while she kept her eyes on the horizon, willing the Mandalorian to return unharmed._ _

_’I don’t care if he makes it or not.’_ Her frustration over his treatment of the child still gnawed at her, but she couldn’t help but worry about him in spite of herself. Her distracted looks didn’t go unnoticed and as the sun continued to bake the ground around them, Kuiil patted her arm reassuringly. 

__“He will be back.” His words temporarily soothed her worries, but the Jawas were not as easily swayed. As time dragged on, they grew more restless. Soon enough they were calling the Mandalorian a lost cause and started packing up their sandcrawler as they complained. Valera did her best to assure them that he’d bring the egg, but after hours of waiting even she could hear the lack of conviction in her voice._ _

__“Please, please, just wait a little longer!” She pleaded with them, fighting a pair of Jawas over the pile of parts she had collected. Her attempts to keep them from carrying away the various pieces were futile and soon enough they were fully packed up and ready to move on. Just as they were raising the platform of the crawler, Kuiil called out, signaling the Mandalorian’s return. Valera’s head whipped around and searched for Mando. Relief flooded her chest as she finally caught sight of him and the child’s pod crawling slowly into view on the horizon. She waved in spite of herself and called back towards the Jawa’s who in turn, lowered their platform once again._ _

__———_ _

__Mando hefted the egg into the eagerly waiting hands of a Jawa and staggered towards Kuiil’s shuttle. Leaning heavily against it, clearly worse for wear from his quest, he heaved a sigh and was silent once again. The Jawas set upon the egg immediately and soon after formed a small production line to produce the various parts that they had agreed to part with. As the shuttle was loaded up around Mando, Valera could have laughed at his muddied appearance but his broken chest plate and the way he sat silently amongst the Jawa indicated it had been a rough fight. She was puzzled by the cleanliness of the child’s pod compared to Mando, but was glad to see they had both returned in one piece. Her brows furrowed softly as she found the child asleep. She turned back towards the Mandalorian to inquire about the mission but he slowly raised an exhausted hand at her._ _

__“Later.” His hand dropped like a stone back to his side, and resumed his silent reverie. The powers the kid had shown baffled him and as his body started to ache more and more, he let himself mull over what to do with this new discovery._ _

__The Mandalorian’s cryptic response had only raised more questions, and a panic briefly rose in Valera as she started at his ruined chest plate again. For now though she held her tongue and helped the Jawas pack up the shuttle. Soon enough they parted from the Jawas, making their way back towards Kuiil’s farm and eventually, as night fell, to the Razon Crest. The Mandalorian had more or less recovered by the time they reached the Crest and was sifting through the pieces of his ship and fidgeted a grouping of wires in his hand still mulling over his options for the child._ _

__He understood why the bounty for the kid had been so high, having seen the child use his powers on the mudhorn, he understood what the Imperials stood to gain from his capture. Turning to watch Valera as she gently woke the kid, he realized how ruinous the two of them would be for him. It was something he didn’t care to admit to himself let alone anyone else and thus decided he would keep the child’s powers a secret at least until they were airborne again._ _

_’I hope that little foundling is worth all of this…’_ He mused, moving to join Valera and Kuiil as they got to work restoring the Razor Crest to its former glory. They worked through the night, catching sleep in shifts as they kept things moving. Between the three of them it seemed as if the reassembly of the ship took almost no time at all. _’There she is…_ The Mandalorian smiled to himself as he stepped away to take in the completed ship. It’s repaired hull gleamed in the first light of the morning. Valera ran her arm across her forehead but grinned at him as she too stepped back to look at their handiwork. 

“She really is a beautiful ship Mando.” _’I’m gonna miss this.’_ Having made up her mind, she was prepared to leave his employment as soon as he delivered the child. If her plan was smart enough, she’d be able to rescue the child almost as soon as he was handed over. Her smile faltered for a moment before she shrugged it off and set about getting ready to leave. She kept an eye on the child as he chased a pair of frogs nearby, and then scooped him up into her arms as she brought him on board the Crest. Finally it was time to leave, and after wishing Kuiil a fond farewell, she joined Mando in the cockpit for take off. 

__The child proved a challenge to entertain once they were settled in for the flight to Nevarro. He was almost immediately off of Valera’s lap and scuttling forward to grasp at the silver handle of a gear shift. He complained in his babbling way until the Mandalorian sighed and uncrewed the ball for the child to play with. Valera smiled at this and wondered if there would be a best time to restate her case against turning the child in for a bounty. As she chewed on her lip lost in her mental preparations, she missed the Mandalorian turn to study the child and in turn her._ _

__Clearing his throat to get her attention, she snapped out of her current mental argument and stared wide eyed at Mando. She reminded him of a startled Vulptex with the way she was taken completely unaware. He chuckled for a moment, the modulator of his helmet crackling through the cockpit and looked down as the child offered the silver ball to him. Mando held his hand out to the child who gently grasped one of his fingers with his free hand and carefully placed the ball in his palm with the other. Just as quickly, the child removed it again and held the ball close to his chest._ _

__“I’ve decided to keep him with us, uh, with me. I mean.” Was all he said, leaving the words up for Valera to interpret. Her initial shock back to reality was almost nothing compared to the overwhelming relief she suddenly felt realizing what he meant._ _

__“Really? What changed your mind? What happened yesterday?” She sat straight in her seat, and leaned forward, placing her hands on her knees. She was intent on learning what had happened, and eager to find out exactly what could have caused such detrimental damage to his armor both physically and emotionally._ _

__“He has powers. I think,... I think he could be force sensitive.” His haunting revelation was spoken just above a whisper as if even the ship would betray the knowledge he had learned. With the secret now revealed, he felt a lead weight lift from his conscience. The gnawing guilt that had grown around this job, now ebbed away as gently as a tide. In the past he had done what was necessary to finish a job no matter what it meant for others, but Valera held her heart on her sleeve, that much was clear with her concern for the kid._ _

__Her passion for kindness had bled into every aspect of their shared time on the Razor Crest. He did his best to reciprocate and keep her comfortable while she was aboard as his mechanic. Keeping on top of the ship’s needs had been too much for him to manage, but it was easy to purchase the supplies she needed when she was busy rewiring panels or welding new patches to keep the Crest in the air. Valera in turn had shown continued kindness in making sure to keep Mando well stocked on meals and drinks as she went about her day. Always leaving them nearby and making herself scarce so he might enjoy them alone, sans his helmet. It was something he had grown accustomed to and appreciated greatly, not dwelling on the fact that her presence and now the child’s presence were making him soft. Her voice extracted him from his thoughts._ _

__“What does that mean?” She peered at the child with a new renown, listening carefully as Mando relaid what had transpired at the mudhorn cave. Nodding slowly as her mind raced for a sound solution, she lifted her gaze towards Mando, her eyes glittering with renewed hope for the child’s wellbeing._ _

__“And what do we do now?” The resolve in her voice wavered as she swept her hand along the child’s arm comforting herself more than the child. He was soon lulled to sleep as she and Mando formed a plan for the child and for their next stop on Nevarro._ _

__———_ _

__The plan was simple enough, turn in the child, collect the reward, and rescue the child as soon as possible. But it was with some amount of trepidation that Valera wondered what would happen to the child once he was in the hands of the Imperials. She stood in front of his sleeping form in a small hammock in Mando’s quarters. Previously the child had been sleeping in his pod, but once Mando had revealed his plans to her, the hammock for the child appeared soon after._ _

A smile drifted across her lips and she brushed the pad of her thumb against the child’s palm, relieved that he would no longer be forced to stay with the Imperials. The gravity of her commitment to the child alighted on her like a bird. Making a home in her heart, she knew she would do whatever she could to keep him from the upbringing she had faced. _’Maybe I can take you somewhere quiet. Being raised by one guardian would be better than none, that’s for sure.’_ The child’s fingers gently curled in towards her thumb and a moment later, his large brown eyes opened and gazed up at her, chasing away the last moments of sleep before he blinked once and started to stir. 

__“Not too long now, and you’ll be right back here, ok? It’ll be alright.” Valera picked up the child and brought him up to the cockpit, holding him on her lap as they started their descent towards Nevarro’s spaceport. Her hand tightened on him for a moment while Mando stood and passed by her. Once he was ready to go, he called her down to the ship’s cargo bay and silently watched as Valera carefully placed the child into his pod and closed it. Resting her hand on the top of the pod, she turned to face Mando head on._ _

“We’ll get him as _soon_ as we’re able.” Her eyes shined for a moment before she passed an arm over them, recomposing herself as she stood firm in front of Mando. He gave her a curt nod in reply. 

__“As soon as I can. Just be patient and wait here. I’ll let you know when it’s time.” With that settled, he pressed a button on his cuff and the pod quietly followed him down the ramp and quickly out of view._ _

__———_ _

__Leaving the child with the Imperials had left a bad taste in Mando’s mouth. No matter how slowly he stepped, the walk to the Imperial facility ended almost as quickly as it had begun. With the child in the hands of the client and his payment in hand, he stalked through the crowds of Nevarro making his way to the lair of the Tribe. The beskar he now carried with him felt like carbonite, slowly enclosing him in a frozen coffin of guilt._ _

_’I will put it to good use. This is the Way.’_ Once he had spoken with the armorer, and his new armor was underway, he had time to map out solutions to possible problems in rescuing the kid. He wondered how many others would be after the child, with such a large bounty it wouldn’t surprise him if the rest of the guild had trackers too. Ignoring Paz Vizsla as he stalked out of the lair, he was left more or less to his own devices as he waited for his new armor to be forged. The waiting usually didn’t phase him, it came with the territory of being a bounty hunter, but this time he was restless. The longer he dwelled on the evidence that Valera had been right about the Empire, the more anger he felt towards leaving the child with that scum. The armorer made no comment when he began slowly pacing near the forge. His agitation rolled off of him in waves but the armorer simply went about her task of reshaping the beskar into suitable pieces. 

____———_ _ _ _

____Several hours later and Valera was convinced that something had gone wrong. Mando was nowhere to be seen and unless she wanted to be caught, she couldn’t just wander around Nevarro looking for him. She wouldn’t even know where to start. Keeping an overly anxious eye out from the cockpit of the Crest as long as she could had only been so distracting. Soon enough she had gone down to her sleeping quarters and changed into a sleeveless all black outfit, complete with a cloak to hide her blaster. Her blaster tapped rhythmically against her thigh as she restlessly tapped her foot. She pretended to work on a circuit board to pass the time; the staccato of her heel against the steel flooring echoed through the space as she willed the Mandalorian to appear._ _ _ _

____He must have taken a different route to avoid suspicion because the next thing she knew, the bay door had opened and now the shining silver Madalorian stood on the ramp before her. Taking a step back as Valera practically threw herself out of the ship, she careened to a stop a few feet away from him and stilled at the top of the ramp. She quieted a gasp as she took in his new look. The silver was a handsome look on him, it was certainly better than the grizzled armor he had worn before. The color made him look more intimidating than usual and having no visible battle scars to note his abilities alluded to his skill as a hunter. She didn’t allow herself to scrutinize him any longer, and clenched her teeth at how much he had been paid for handing over the child._ _ _ _

____“So that’s what the Empire can afford these days, huh?” Were the only words she spoke as she stepped down the ramp and peered back up at Mando. He shook his head at her comment and pivoted on his heels to follow her path down the ramp. Closing the bay door and locking the ship up in one swift movement, he stalked towards Valera and held out his hand to her. Confused, she tentatively raised her arm in his direction and was rewarded with the cold steel of restraint cuffs latch closed around her wrist. She immediately went into flight mode, trying to shirk her encircled wrist out of his grasp, but he was too strong._ _ _ _

“Dank farrik Mando, I thought we said no cuffs?” Mando simply stared silently down at her until she calmed down and brought her other wrist up allowing him to restrain her wrists in front of her. Their plan had been to turn Valera in to the Imperials to gain access to the kid again but she hadn’t realized that she’d fully be playing the part of a shackled quarry. _’What use am I if I can’t fight?’_ He stood holding her shackled wrists for a moment longer before drawing his hand up her arm and grasping her bicep. 

____“No one lets bounties walk freely here. At least with these you’ll seem compliant. Now come on.” He steered her away from the ship and in the direction of the Imperial facility. Valera would have played up the scowl on her face if she wasn’t already grimly prepared for the battle they were walking into. Soon enough they found themselves outside of the facility and Mando carefully uncuffed Valera’s hands._ _ _ _

____“Let them think you’re still shackled until we can find the kid, ok?” Mando brought his hand back up to her arm and tilted his head in curt recognition as the gatekeeper droid appeared and inquired as to their appearance. The droid disappeared again and the door opened, allowing them access inside. They waited just inside the door’s alcove, as their eyes adjusted to the gloomy atmosphere. A whispered conversation of ‘gathered materials’ and ‘kept alive’ drifted towards them as they waited to speak to the client. Two stormtroopers finally escorted them into an adjoining room where the client stood conversing with a doctor. The two turned towards Mando and Valera as they entered._ _ _ _

____“Ah! It would seem you are overloaded with gifts for us today.” The client extended his hand in a mock welcome towards Valera who was pushed forward by Mando. She scoffed in disgust and stood jeering at the client and the doctor._ _ _ _

____“I’m a gift you won’t soon forget that’s for sure.” Spitting venom at the client as she stood before him. Valera’s fingers itched to grab her blaster and blow him away right then and there. She was unfamiliar with the men standing before her, but their Imperial garb told her all she needed to know to make her hate them. The fact that the child was being kept somewhere in the facility only fueled her hatred towards him. The client merely laughed and nodded towards the doctor and a stormtrooper at his side._ _ _ _

____“How quait, a womp rat who thinks her teeth can bite through Imperial armor. I do think I’ll enjoy watching the fire die out of your eyes.” The client chuckled at his own statement and turned towards one of the stormtroopers that had escorted them in. “TK-563 escort Doctor Pershing and our new guest to the other room. They can keep the asset company until we are ready to leave.” He dismissed them with a wave of his hand and went about producing credits for Mando._ _ _ _

____Valera didn’t risk catching Mando’s eye as she was roughly escorted out of the room by the stormtrooper and instead kept her head hung low in mock defeat. Pershing meekly followed them out into the hallway, to the end of the corridor, and opened a door to their left. As soon as the doors closed behind them, Valera released her hands from her shackles and grabbed her blaster. Immediately firing at the stormtrooper, he dropped to the floor in front of her and she swung the blaster towards the doctor. He stared at Valera, his eyes wide with horror and then jumped away from the body now lying on the floor between them. Crouching down beside an examination table in the middle of the room, his hands quickly appeared above his head._ _ _ _

____“Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot! I’ll give you whatever you want, just don’t shoot!” He caught her gaze for a moment before ducking sheepishly back behind the table. Meanwhile Valera stood scanning the room for the child. Frantic to be out of there before more troopers appeared._ _ _ _

____“Where’s the kid?” A percussive blast suddenly rocked the building, and Valera sucked in a breath as dirt and debris rained from the ceiling. The doctor popped his head above the table once more and pointed to a cage in the corner. More blaster fire sounded from the hallway and Valera rushed to the cage to free the child. His unconscious form was curled in a ball at the back of the cage and Valera’s heart broke to see him that way. She turned back towards the doctor, her blaster still pointed in his direction._ _ _ _

____“What did you do!?” she blindly unlatched the cage as the doctor raised his hands higher above his head, his eyes darting from the blaster leveled at him to the continued shouts and gunfire outside the doors._ _ _ _

____“We...he… we had to sedate him, he wouldn’t stop fighting us. That’s all! He’s alive because of me! I kept him alive!” The doctor resumed his attempts to shield himself behind the table and Valera took a chance and turned her back on him. Opening the door to the small cage, she gently lifted the child up into her arms and searched the room for a moment before wrapping him in a threadbare sheet. With the child held firmly against her chest, she made her way to the door, pointing the blaster at the doctor once again._ _ _ _

____“Your kindness has saved your life. Do not make me regret it.” And with that she was out of the door and immersed in the chaos of the hallway. Smoke immediately stung her eyes as she finally caught sight of the large hole Mando had created at the far end of the hallway. She would use it to escape but first had to let him know they had been successful in saving the child. She took a moment to adjust the sheet and tied it into a sling across her chest. With the child safely carried on her person, and both hands free, she ran down the hallway towards the most recent bout of shouting._ _ _ _

____———_ _ _ _

____The Mandalorian found himself surrounded. Four stormtroopers stood with their blasters pointed at him and prepared to fire, as he rolled through the possibilities of taking them all on at once. He caught sight of movement over the shoulder of the trooper closest to the door, and smiled despite his outward indifference. In the doorway Valera stood stock still, with one hand on the sling around her chest, and the other holding her blaster towards the guard nearest to her. She stood at the ready, knowing that the other three still posed a problem for the Mandalorian. He thought for a moment and purposely turned his head, slowly shaking it from side to side as he noted the two troopers in front of him._ _ _ _

____Valera caught his meaning and nodded, withdrawing from the shadows of the door and back into the ruined hallway. Picking her way back down the hallway and towards the ruined outer wall, the sound of whistling birds and screams soon echoed from the room. The Mandalorian appeared no worse for wear and made his way to join her at the ruined wall. Valera placed her hand on his arm and he stilled as she squeezed his forearm._ _ _ _

____“Thank you.” A smile played on her lips as she removed her hand from his arm and smoothed it across the sling a moment before straightening and stepping out into the fresh air._ _ _ _

____Mando flexed his hand as the moment passed, and soon joined her outside of the facility. They made their way towards the Razor Crest but were soon surrounded by members of the Bounty Hunter guild lead by Greef Karga. Greef rested his hands on his hips as Valera and Mando came to a stop across the square from him. He gave a hearty laugh when he realized who Mando was standing next to._ _ _ _

“Is _this_ the thanks I get for giving you high paying jobs Mando? You take them into your care instead of turning them in? Looks like you’ve gone soft!” He held a hand up to keep the surrounding bounty hunters at bay as Mando spoke. 

____“We’re going to my ship.” He rested his hand on his rifle as he started Greef down._ _ _ _

____“Hand them over now and we’ll let you walk away without a quarrel. If not, I cannot guarantee I can keep everyone from coming after you. And why should I, when you’ve betrayed the guild like this?” Greef waited for Mando to think the option over, feeling confident he would give the child and Valera to the guild._ _ _ _

____Instead, Mando reached for Valera’s arm and threw her onto a nearby speeder, shielding her and the child for a moment while blaster bolts started to fly. Valera breathlessly gazed up at Mando as he worked on an exit strategy. He held his body above her as to not crush her or the child. His arms formed a cage around her as he did so and despite the very real threat lurking around them, for a moment she felt completely safe and well protected._ _ _ _

____“Stay low and shoot as many of them as you can, but if I tell you to run, you run. Got it?” He didn’t wait for an answer from her before he was gone and shooting his way through the other bounty hunters. Valera laid in amongst the boxes on the speeder for another moment before her synapses started firing once more and she reached for her blaster. A box above her head was singed with a sudden assault of blaster fire and she jumped into action, returning fire but staying low and shielded amongst the cargo._ _ _ _

____“Take them alive! Do not harm the assets!” Greef shouted amongst the skirmish. He did his best to keep some semblance of order, but the other bounty hunters were mercilessly firing on Mando and Valera._ _ _ _

____Even with her help, Mando realized they were overwhelmed. He jumped back onto the shuttle and demanded that the droid attached to it drive them away. After briefly resisting, the droid complied, leading them closer and closer to the Razor Crest. A single shot disabled the droid and the shuttle crashed, causing a sudden silence to delve through the crowd. Greef’s voice cut through the silence clear and calm._ _ _ _

____“We can do this all day Mando. Hand them over or if you try to stop us we will kill you and strip you of your armor starting with that pretty helmet of yours.” He nodded to another bounty hunter who slowly crept towards the shuttle._ _ _ _

____Valera caught him in the shoulder with her blaster and the fight quickly resumed. Mando was able to keep the majority of the hunters at bay but they soon drew closer and with their options dwindling Valera turned towards him and untied the sling._ _ _ _

____“I’ll go. Use me as a distraction to get away with the child. I’ll be ok.” He turned to look at her, the lights of the city and the fight around them reflected on his visor. He tilted his head down towards the child in her arms, watching as the kid finally stirred and was brought back to consciousness. Mando was about to speak but a sudden noise and blast above them caused them both to turn and witness a group of Mandalorians arrive. The group landed before them, firing on the other bounty hunters as they suddenly evened the odds. Valera and Mando immediately resumed their place in the fight, hoping that this would be enough to get them safely to the Razor Crest._ _ _ _

____Paz Vizsla landed nearest to Mando and amidst firing upon the other bounty hunters urged Mando to take his chance and leave._ _ _ _

____“Foundlings are the future. This is the Way.” He spoke finitely before pushing further into the battle._ _ _ _

____“This is the Way.” Mando swiftly returned the statement then grabbed the child and pulled Valera from the wrecked shuttle._ _ _ _

____With the Mandalorians covering their retreat, they were finally able to reach the Razor Crest without harm. Greef broke free from the crowd and yelled after them._ _ _ _

____“You broke the code Mando!” His attempt to follow their escape was short lived as a single blaster bolt found its mark in his chest and he crumpled to the ground._ _ _ _

____———_ _ _ _

____The bay door was barely closed before they were launching from the spaceport and racing to breach the planet’s atmosphere. Valera’s heart was still racing as she climbed wearily into her co-pilot’s chair and watched as they jumped into hyperspace. She let out a breath of relief as they quickly left Nevarro behind. Watching as the child squirmed out of her lap, she couldn’t help but laugh as he immediately requested the silver ball off of the gear shift as if nothing had happened. Mando wordlessly complied, removing the ball at once and gently picking up the child before placing it in his small green hands._ _ _ _

____“Ready to lay low for a while?” Valera gave a quiet hmm, taking amusement in the fact that the child babbled up at Mando’s helmet, a look of clear excitement played across his face as he held the ball for Mando to observe. Mando swiveled towards Valera waiting for her response and upon realizing he had been asking the child _and_ her, she blushed and nodded. _ _ _ _

____“Where are we going to go?” The guild would surely be after them as soon as the surviving members regrouped and unless they were able to convince Greef to call off the search, they would have to remain on the run. Always staying one step ahead of anyone chasing after them. Mando studied her for a moment and looked back down at the child before turning back to the control panel._ _ _ _

____“Let’s find somewhere quiet.” His voice held a clear exhaustion even through his modulator, and soon enough they were headed towards the outer reaches of space searching for a quiet planet to call their temporary home._ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone who's been following along!


	4. A Glimpse at Paradise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the trouble on Nevarro, Mando and Valera take their changes on Sorgan. 
> 
> Enter Cara Dune, the comic relief and a protective friend, will Mando and Valera finally realize their feelings for one another or will Omera steal Mando's heart?

A week passed by before they found a planet worthy of investigating. The kid had more or less fallen into their routine and enjoyed “helping” Valera and Mando as they went about their days. The child had not shown any additional signs of having powers, either choosing not to use them or not knowing how, and they had not tried to press the matter. They simply let the child go about his days as he pleased and that was enough to keep everyone happy. He was helping Valera tinker with a shorted coolant system when Mando approached them. 

“Is he actually helping?” Mando asked, watching as the child repeatedly banged a wrench against a screwdriver. Valera deftly placed her hands on top of the child’s, stopping the clanging of the tools before grinning up at Mando. 

“He’s teaching me how to play the drums I think.” She wiped her hands on her jumpsuit before climbing to her feet and stretching. “Any word on a planet yet?”

“That’s what I came to talk to you about, I think I found one. It’s called Sorgan. It looks pretty well isolated. We should be able to lay low there for a few months if we want.” He knelt down towards the kid and offered him a handful of snacks. The child immediately let the tools clatter to the ground and joyously scarfed down the offered treat. Mando picked up the kid and held him at eye level. 

“What do you say kid, ready to stretch your legs for a bit?” The child blinked a few times at Mando before bursting out in coos and laughter. Valera took that as a yes and stepped around the pair, patting the crook of Mando’s elbow as she passed him. 

“The coolant system is as good as new as far as I’m concerned. I’m going to go get cleaned up and then scrounge up something for dinner, ok?” She wandered off to the ship’s fresher leaving the two to play for the time being. 

———

Sorgan proved to be a wonderfully lush and temperate planet. As soon as they had landed, Valera and the child were off of the ship and running through the grass. This was heaven compared to Tatooine, and Valera was excited to take full advantage of it. _’I could stay here for forever!’_ She laid down in the grass and stared up at the bright blue sky above them, the child waddled over and fell onto her stomach with a laugh as he knocked the wind out of her. She shook her head at the child as he quickly ran off to attack Mando. She followed after the child, and soon they were all on their way towards a nearby village. 

A weather-worn common house stood in the center of the small village, its lively atmosphere was a welcomed sight after their fight with the guild. The beings here seemed happy and content in their existence on the planet. Valera was all too happy to melt into the fleetingly familiar feeling and knelt to give attention to an orange tooka. Keeping the child at bay as the tooka hissed at him, she brought him to a table that Mando had procured. The barkeep was just leaving as Valera joined him. She sat across the table with the child between them, and soon realized he was staring at something or someone over her shoulder. 

“Surely no one has found us already, Mando?” She kept her eyes on the child as bone broth was brought to the table and set in front of him. Mando merely stood and leaned towards Valera.

“Stay here.” He stepped away from the table and back outside leaving her to tend to the child. Alone with her thoughts, she immediately assumed the planet was no longer safe. She regarded every entity as a possible enemy and as soon as the child was done eating, gathered him up in her arms and left the building. Unholstering her blaster as soon as she was outside, she stood for a moment and focused on the sounds around them. A slight wind whistled through the reeds of the roofs, a few frogs could be heard croaking in the distance, and _’there,’_ a thump and a scuffling sound to her right. _’That’s gotta be Mando.’_ She quickly followed the growing sounds of the scuffle and rounded a corner, her blaster at the ready, only to find Mando and a woman in a standoff on the ground. 

“Call this a draw?” The woman smirked at Mando and nodded at his blaster while holding her own pointed towards him. Valera stepped closer with her own blaster already leveled at the woman’s chest. 

“Not quite.” The woman and Mando both turned to look up at Valera with her blaster in one hand and the child held close to her in the other. Mando’s laugh reverberated out through his moderator before he turned back towards the woman he’d just been fighting. 

“Do you want some soup?” He asked, as he now stood and turned to help her up. She shrugged and after knocking some dirt off of her clothes, followed them back into the common house. A fresh round of soup and spotchka was brought out for the group, sans Mando, and after learning that the woman’s name was Cara Dune, they exchanged backstories over their shared meal. Cara mentioned that she had a bounty out for her capture, Valera and Mando exchanged a look before delving into the story of not only Valera but also the child being wanted by the Empire. 

“Well the Empire will find no allies here, but I’m afraid you’ll have to find somewhere else to lay low. This planet is already spoken for.” Cara drained her soup and stood, leaving the group to their own devices. Valera’s shoulders slumped and she watched the other patrons of the common house for a moment, gathering her thoughts on what to do next. 

“Well, there’s no use sitting around. Let’s get back to the Crest. I’ll see what we can do about supplies.” Mando stood and Valera followed, bringing the child with her as they left the building. 

———

Nighttime had blanketed the Crest by the time they made it back. They had agreed to stay another day to let Valera work on some repairs but other than that they would be leaving as soon as they were able. Mando was outside with the child as two strangers approached on a repulsorlift. He took a step forward and placed himself between the child and the newcomers, moving his hand to rest on his blaster. Their plea for his help falls on deaf ears. He doesn’t want to help anyone, they were here to lay low not put a new target on their backs. 

Valera stopped her work rewiring the landing gear as strange voices drifted towards her. She quickly finished what she was doing and crept along the belly of the ship. The newcomers appeared to be farmers from their appearances, the repulsorlift speeder they came in on was filled with crates and netting. 

“Hey there, come here little one.” She picked up the child and rested him on her hip as she watched Mando speak to the newcomers. They confirmed her suspicion that they were farmers, and she continued to listen as they restated their need for their help. As Mando refused again, Valera cleared her throat and stepped closer to the group. Catching a look from Mando, he shifted ever so slightly on his feet wondering what she was up to. 

“How far away is your farm?” She shrugged a shoulder at Mando as she glanced at his visor and then towards the two in front of them. 

“Far enough, it took us all day to travel to the village, it’ll take all night to get back home.” Valera nods at the farmer who spoke and turns back towards Mando silently laying a question before him. _’Maybe this planet is big enough for us all to stay here?’_

Mando rolled his eyes realizing what Valera was asking and gave a curt nod to the two farmers. He confers with them over payment, lodging, and their location and lets them know they’ll join them at the farm village the following day. As they left, Valera returned to her task and finished fixing the wiring before wrapping up for the night. By the time she joined Mando and the child on board, the child was asleep in his hammock. She smiled at his sleeping form and was caught off guard as Mando suddenly left the fresher. He was clothed of course, and his helmet was still on, but his armor was off for the night. It wasn’t something she usually saw and took a step back from his sleeping quarters as he approached. _’It must be later than I thought.’_ Mando stopped before her and a silence drew out for a moment before he broke it.

“We might need help with those farmers, I was going to ask Cara to join us tomorrow.” It seemed logical enough to Valera, they truly had no idea what they were about to walk into. 

“Do you think we’ll be able to stay here after all? If we’re a day’s trip away from where she’s staying maybe things will be ok.” Valera couldn’t help but take in his distinctly human form as he stood before her. She had seen him once or twice without all of his gear on, usually when he got hurt, but it was always a shock to have the stark reminder that he was human under all of that beskar. Mando crossed his arms and she blushed realizing she had been staring. She turned back towards the sleeping child as Mando replied.

“I’m not sure, it could be possible though. You should get some sleep, it’s going to be a long day tomorrow.” He had wondered the same thing, if they could just keep the child on this planet for a little while, he should be safe there. Then they could decide what to do next. He wondered if there were parents out there looking for the child, and if there were, would he be able to find them? Valera broke him out of his thoughts as she wished him a good night and disappeared into her own sleeping quarters on the other side of the cargo bay. He nodded at her retreating form and entered his room. Making sure not to wake the child, he laid down in his bed and removed his helmet for the night. Turning off the lights, he was plunged into the pitch black of the space, plans raced through his mind as he tried to settle down for the night. He raked his hand across his stubbled cheek for a moment, his thoughts slowly drifted back to Valera and how she had stared at him as they spoke. He groaned and rolled on his side, willing the vision of her face out of his mind. _’She’s just my mechanic, nothing more.’_ He fell asleep soon after, thoughts of Valera and the child followed him, and soon he found them in his dreams chasing frogs and laughing as he watched them from a distance. 

———

Cara had reluctantly agreed to join them the next day, after questioning if hunting for raiders for petty cash was their new day job. After packing up a speeder with supplies, they slowly made their way towards the farming village. With three people to look after the child, they were all in fairly high spirits when the village came into view. Soon enough a gaggle of children rushed their speeder and surrounded the child, their questioning eyes greeted by his own. Soon the village children and the kid were off playing nearby, and Mando, Valera, and Cara were met by a village woman Omera, and shown to their temporary lodgings. The women would be sharing a space in one house and Mando would be taking Omera’s home. She assured them that it was no trouble for the villagers to offer their homes to them and that they were all relieved to have someone there to help them with the raiders. 

After settling into their new homes, Valera joined Cara on the steps outside of their lodging and watched in silence as the kid entertained the group of children around them. Cara nodded towards Omera as she walked a tray of food in to Mando. 

“What’s the story there, are you two together? Or does Omera have a chance?” She huffed a laugh as Valera solemnly watched Omera disappear from view. The two women had easily found a new friend in one another as they travelled to the village and Valera found Cara’s attitude towards Mando to be refreshing and reminded her of siblings in the way they picked at one another.

“No, no! We’re not together. I’m just his mechanic.” _’And that’s probably all I’ll ever be…’_ Valera’s face tinted pink as she turned away from Cara and watched the kid playing in the distance instead. She hadn’t been able to get Mando off of her mind lately, and catching him without his armor on had only exacerbated things. She had hardly slept the night before, he had changed so much now that the kid was around. He was kind to her before, but now it was like he had not only decided to save the kid but genuinely cared for him as well. She had noticed the hammock at first but realized they shared the duties in caring for the child as well. Just because Mando didn’t eat in front of her didn’t mean he wasn’t willing to take the time to make sure the kid was fed. It was so sweet to come out of her room or the fresher and find Mando with a spoon piloting its way into the child’s mouth. She smiled for a moment and replayed that particular memory in her mind for a while longer before turning back to Cara who was smirking at her.

“What?” Valera asked, wondering how long she had been lost in her own thoughts. Cara just smirked at her and stood, stretching her arms for a moment before stepping down off of the steps. 

“Uhuh. I see what’s going on here.” She laughed as Valera’s face radiated heat at her insinuation. “I’m gonna go see if Omera needs help with anything. I think Mando wanted to do some recon later so I’ll see you later tonight.” Cara winked at Valera and left her on the steps as she wandered away. Before Valera could dwell on Cara knowing her feelings, two farmers approached her asking for her help. 

“We heard you say you’re a mechanic, would you mind helping us with our speeder? It runs but we can only do so much to keep it functioning.” The farmer gestured towards the shuttle she had seen the day before and she nodded, standing up and dusting herself off. 

“Of course! I’d be happy to help!” The rest of her day was happily spent tinkering on their various machines and farming instruments and getting to know the farmers of the village. As night fell, Cara came and found her and they met up with Mando to search for the raiders. It wasn’t long before it was clear that the raiders were well equipped. Cara recognized the footprints of an AT-ST Raider and that led their search to an abrupt end. The three of them wouldn’t be enough to take on an AT-ST Raider, even with Valera’s mechanical knowhow, it would be too risky for any of them to defeat it. They returned to the village with a cloud over their heads. Now not only would they need to relocate, but the villagers would have to leave too. 

Back at Mando’s lodging, the three discussed their next options. The child who had spent the day playing and chasing frogs, was fast asleep in a small bassinet that Omera had provided. Valera rocked the bassinet slowly and turned back to the others.

“There must be _something_ we can do, we can’t just ask an entire village to leave their homes behind. Where will they go?” Cara gave her a shrug and scuffed her boot on the floor. 

“They’ll just have to figure it out, we can’t take on an AT-ST Raider with a bunch of farmers. I’ve seen them wipe out companies of soldiers in minutes, they’d cut us down in seconds.” Resolute in her stance, she made her goodbyes, and turned in for the night. Valera watched her leave and stretched, for a moment, it had been a long day and her muscles were starting to ache because of it. She took one last look at the child for the night and caught Mando staring at her. Even though his helmet betrayed nothing, she had been around him long enough to know he was concerned. She smiled softly, the weariness of the situation plain on her face, but she did her best to compose herself before stepping towards the door. 

“I just wish there was something more we could do for them you know? I know there’s no use trying to help everyone we come across, but they’re so kind. They’ve been nothing but kind and they’re paying us, the least we could do is save their home. Maybe they could fight with us, I don’t know.” She stared at his visor searching for an answer to their problem for a moment before nodding a good night and taking her leave of the building. Making her way back to the lodging she shared with Cara, she stared up at the stars and wondered if she would ever find a place that felt like home to her as this village did to its farmers. A handful of villagers whispered a late night greeting to her as they too wound their ways towards their beds for the night. 

———

The next morning Cara and Mando delivered the news that the villagers would have to leave. It was early and the sun was barely up but the farmers started their days chasing the shadows of the night away and although they were still wiping sleep from their eyes, the news shocked the crowd into a frenzied murmur.

“There’s nothing to be done?” “What are we paying you for, you’re supposed to be protecting us!” Several voices raised alarm from the crowd as Valera joined Mando and Cara on their platform. 

“Morning. Looks like this is going well.” She whispered to Cara who huffed a laugh and rolled her eyes at Valera. 

“Yeah we’ve got a real crowd pleaser here.” She pointed at Mando as she then raised her hands to shush the crowd. 

“Look, that was before we knew about the AT-ST. This is a big planet, you can find a new place.” Her words only helped to turn the crowd against them even more and Valera wondered if they’d be driven from the farm if they couldn’t find a peaceable solution. Omera stood in the middle of the crowd and spoke out.

“We’re not leaving.” She stood firm,and the villagers around her quieted down and began murmuring in agreement. 

“Then we will teach you.” Mando’s voice superseded the voices of the crowd and silenced them. Valera smiled in surprise as he sighed and proceeded to make his way down towards the crowd. Omera and the other villagers crowded around him and immediately began asking questions but he stopped and raised a hand to quiet them again.

“Give me an hour and meet me down by the krill fields. We’ll start then.” With that he waded through the rest of the crowd and disappeared into his lodgings once again. Cara exchanged a look with Valera and cocked her head to the side. 

“Well that was a surprise, I wonder who changed his mind?” Without waiting to hear Valera’s response, she jumped off of the platform and walked over to Mando’s lodging to help figure out what to do with the farmers. 

An hour later Mando and Cara were outside but still talking through the trouble points of training the farmers. Valera stood to the side unsure of how she could help them. She had no formal training to speak of and only learned how to defend herself through years of necessity. She was good with a blaster, but with Cara’s training she would be learning more than she would be teaching. Thinking back to the AT-ST, she wondered if there was a way to trap it. The raiders she had seen before were intimidating but slow moving, perhaps there was a way for her to tap into this one and power it down but she would need to get the control access down to her level. Scanning the farm for any ideas, a sudden thought came to mind. 

“I can stop the AT-ST!” She blurred excitedly. Mando was still discussing the raiders with the group of farmers and they all turned to stare at her. She blushed at the number of eyes suddenly on her, but continued. “If we dig out a trap and sink it. I can access its power and disable it. Its power cells should be accessible from the top of the unit but we’ll need to get it down to the ground first.” She gave a hopeful smile at the group as they continued to stare silently at her, she knew it was a long shot but at least it was something she knew she could do. Cara nodded and clapped, bringing the attention of the farmers over to her. 

“I can work with that. Alright! We’re gonna build a trap. We’re gonna need to dig real deep so that it drops and Valera will handle it from there.” She winked at Valera and proceeded to divide the group of farmers into smaller groups. Those that weren’t actively digging the trap were learning how to fight and would switch half way through the day. They weren’t sure when the raiders would strike again, it seemed to be when their stores had worn out but they hoped they’d have enough time to do what they could and bring the fight to them when the village was ready. Valera helped the farmers cut down trees and build the barricades they needed around the outside of the farm, and doled out weapons to the farmers for target practice. 

The farmers were all nice enough, but she had a suspicious feeling in her gut every time she saw Omera, especially when she was with Mando. The feeling only grew as she realized how often this occurred. _’There is no reason to be jealous. He’s free. She’s free, and beautiful. Why wouldn’t he want to spend time with her?’_ Her inner monologue plied her with a continuous stream of reasons why Mando could never and would never like her. She did her best to ignore the droning voice in her head knowing full well that was not why they were there but it was difficult the longer they stayed. Cara wandered over at one point and directed Valera’s attention over to where Mando was instructing Omera. 

“They look good together don’t you think? Maybe after this battle you can all settle down here. We could find you a nice farmer, what do you say?” She laughed as Valera rolled her eyes and continued tying down a tree for the barrier. 

“Uhuh, does that mean you’re gonna stay here too? Maybe Omera has a sister, should we go ask?” Valera countered, raising a brow at Cara.

“Nah I’m not the family type. I’ll be out of here as soon as this is all wrapped up.” Cara said as she helped her move another log into place and secure it. 

“Well if Omera has any say in it I might be out of a job soon. So if you need a mechanic, let me know. But I’ll tell you now I don’t come cheap.” Valera smirked as they secured the log into place. Cara nodded and clapped Valera on the shoulder. 

“I don’t think it’ll come to that,” She nodded at Mando as he approached them. “I’ll see you tonight.”

As Cara wandered away, Mando placed a hand on the barrier, examining it for a moment before turning towards Valera.

“Do you really think this will work?” Valera sighed at the question, wiping her hands on her thighs as she followed his line of sight down the wall of barriers. 

“I honestly don’t know, but it’s what they paid us for. If they lose, they’d have lost their homes either way, so might as well make a stand for their lives. Right? If I lived in a place like this I’d want to fight for it too.” She caught sight of movement in the distance and saw the kid with his groupies following at a distance as he toddled after a group of frogs. Stopping short at one of the ponds, he clapped his hands as the frogs disappeared before him into the murky water. 

“He likes it here, the children seem to like him too.” She pointed towards the kid and Mando turned to catch the last frog disappear out of the kid’s grasp. 

“Yeah I suppose he does. Do you like it here?” He turned back to Valera and held her gaze, his helmet reflected her dirt flecked face back at her as she considered her answer. 

“I think if I were able to stay useful I could be happy here, I suppose. The farmers certainly have no shortage of outdated machinery to work on.” She studied him for a moment wondering if he was considering staying himself, and let the thought fall from her mind. She didn’t want to think about what if’s with him right in front of her. It was bad enough her heart had started to race when he came over. No, it was safer to stay focused on resolutes: machines she could fix, and problems she could solve. 

Mando couldn’t tell what was going through Valera’s mind but he understood her interest in helping the farmers here. They were rough around the edges but fierce in their resolve. It reminded him of his own convictions as a Mandalorian. Watching the kid play with the farmers’ children, he knew the kid would be safe here if they were able to save the village. They would be safe enough once the raiders were gone but what would that mean for him? He’d still need to lay low for a while, and he wouldn’t be able to return to the guild that was for sure. He supposed he could work for hire as he had before but it would be difficult having made a name for himself back on Nevarro by now. 

“I see.” He kept his swirling thoughts of the kid and their uncertain future to himself, shifting the conversation back to the topic at hand. “If tonight doesn’t go well, make sure the kid stays safe. Don’t stay and fight a losing battle, ok? The villagers will understand.” He ended their conversation as quickly as he had started it and made his way over to the kid. The children swarmed around him as he approached and Valera had to laugh as he was firmly held captive for a moment as they plied him with frogs and krill for the kid.

———

Night fell and soon Mando, Valera, and Cara were on their way to lure the raiders out of their camp. They arrived at the raiders’ camp quickly and entered a large tent filled with circular vats. Wasting no time, they placed detonators but heard the sounds of raiders just outside. Valera stood by the doorway, her blaster out, and readied for an attack. The raiders sauntered in unaware but met the group with force reaching for their own weapons as the three fired on them. The detonators beeped their impending detonation as Mando, Valera, and Cara fought off the raiders. They were blocked off from the entrance but with Mando’s quick thinking, charged their way through the back wall, making it to safety just moments before the detonators exploded. 

Their momentary relief was short lived as the eerie red glow of AT-ST’s view ports loomed menacingly behind them. The three fled in the direction of the farming village and swiftly crossed the bottlenecked opening they had created. Valera had nearly made it into the village, the others were just ahead of her, already racing their way through the krill ponds, but her foot snagged on a plant. She came crashing down just outside of the barrier and picked herself up as quickly as she could, she could hear Mando yell her name but there was no time for anyone to come back and help her. She rolled to her feet and made a snap decision, sliding into the water of the trap they had built. She clung to the grassy edge hoping to go unnoticed by the approaching AT-ST. 

There was a moment of silence, and then a rumbling was heard, trees shook in the distance as the AT-ST stalked its way out of the trees at the edge of the village. Searching the line of villagers for Mando, Valera caught sight of his helmet for a moment as the AT-ST creaked to a stop beside where Valera was hidden. Her heart pounded in her throat and she briefly wondered if this would be the end. On Cara’s mark, the farmers opened fire on the raiders who stormed into view. Blaster fire lit up the fields and Valera carefully heaved herself up onto land once again, and pressed her body up against the wood of the barriers. She took shots at the raiders as they ran past, and stayed as close to the AT-ST as she dared. Mando called out to Cara as the fighting ensued. 

After a short exchange, Cara took Mando’s rifle and stormed forward into the open field, quickly hiding from the blinding search light of the AT-ST, she landed a two shots on its hull and jumped into a krill pond hoping it was enough. Valera pulled her knife out of her boot and readied herself as she carefully watched the AT-ST step forward, take another shot from Cara, and finally go down into the trap. Valera was on the mech in moments. She scrambled up the side of the unit and used her knife to pry open an access panel. Reaching into the panel, she pulled out as many wires as she could before she heard the machine finally power down beneath her. Mando suddenly joined her on top of the mech and threw a detonator into the now broken view port of the raider. Grabbing her hand, he dragged her down off of the machine and jumped into the water as the AT-ST exploded above them. They resurfaced and Cara waved at them with a grin.

“That’s one lousy mechanic you’ve got there. Did you see her attack that control panel?” Cara gently punched Valera’s shoulder and laughed. Together they watched as the last of the raiders retreated back into the forest. “We did it, I can’t believe it.”

“I knew we could, we just had to give them a good support team.” Valera countered, she pulled herself up out of the water and turned to help the other two. Once everyone was back on land, they helped to put out fires and patch up the injured villagers. 

———

Everyone had rested peacefully that first night and in the weeks that followed, there were no signs that the raiders would return. Peace was successfully restored to the farming village and its people quickly returned to their usual way of life. One morning Valera was playing with the village's children and the kid as Cara and Mando watched on from the porch of his lodgings. Omera appeared offering the two drinks before going about her work for the day. Cara sat thoughtfully for a moment before peppering Mando with questions about his helmet. He groaned inwardly, it wasn’t the first time someone had asked him about his way of life and it wouldn’t be the last. He stilled for a moment as she mentioned settling down with Omera. What would settling down even look like for him, he wondered. It certainly wouldn’t involve a farmer, how could he relate to someone who didn’t share his passions, or his love of flying?

“She’s not my type.” He squinted at Cara from behind his visor, giving her an incredulous look as a wide grin settled onto her features. 

“Oh yeah? I know someone who’d be _very_ interested to know what your type is Mando.” She followed Omera’s retreating form as she moved through the village, and then turned her gaze towards Valera and the kid. Mando changed the subject, suggesting they’d both overstayed their welcome on the planet and should leave it soon. Cara pointed towards Valera who was now showing the group of children how to repair a blaster hole in the shuttle. 

“Are you gonna tell them, or should I?” She raised a brow in Mando’s direction but was shocked when he told her he was leaving them there. Intending for Valera to watch over the kid, it would be a good life for the two of them. _’And it’ll keep them out of trouble.’_

__

__

“You can’t leave them here, you’ll break their hearts. The kid maybe, but Valera? You can’t expect her to just accept that, Mando. You can’t act like you don’t know…” She rested her hand on her thigh as she frowned towards the bounty hunter.

“Know what?” He responded, his heartbeat elevating ever so slightly at the thought of something being wrong. _’Is she ok? Did she get hurt and not say anything?’_ He watched as Cara shook her head, placed her cup on the table beside her, and swivelled towards him, lacing her fingers together and looking all the more serious for it. 

“You can’t be… ugh. Omera isn’t the only one that has eyes for you Mando. Even you can’t be that obtuse. Valera’s not going to want to stay here without you.” She stood and pointed at Mando’s chest with an accusatory finger. 

“If you don’t take care of that woman I’ll steal her away from you and I _won’t_ be sorry about it.” She stalked off of the porch and in the direction of the woods. Mando watched her confused as she disappeared among the trees. Turning to look at Valera again, he smiled as she waved to him. 

_’She can’t be right. All I do is fail to keep her out of danger. That alone should make her want to stay here without me.’_ Puzzled by Cara’s statement, he flirted with the knowledge that Valera was _definitely_ his type. Headstrong, brave, knew her way around a blaster and machines. She was resourceful and caring. And she was a foundling like him. He pushed off of the wall he had been leaning on and moved to join her over at the shuttle. Valera caught sight of him approaching and waved again, but her smile and gesture froze as Omera stepped into Mando’s line of sight stopping him in his tracks. 

“Could we talk?” She asked, offering him a soft smile. His eyes darted towards Valera, who had gone back to talking to the children, and then back to Omera. 

“Sure.” He followed her along the krill ponds and stopped and she turned to speak to him. 

“Are you happy here?” It wasn't what he was expecting her to ask, and the question caught him off guard. _’Seems to be the question of the day.’_ He mused still caught on the idea that Valera could have feelings for him. Omera slowly continued her inquiry.

“We want you to stay. You could build a life here.” She continued, telling him that the community was grateful, _she_ was grateful. She placed both of her hands on either side of Mando’s helmet and his brain felt like it short circuited. This was too much to process at once. His mind and heart pounded as thoughts of Valera, the village, and Omera swirled in his head. _’No. This is the way.’_ His mind stilled and the thought brought clarity to him. His hands moved slowly to stop her, as if he was wading through tar but a gasp from over his shoulder made him grasp her hands tightly and turn just in time to see Valera, wide eyed and staring at what had almost occurred. Her confusion and shock was short lived as a single blaster shot sounded in the woods behind them. 

Valera shouted for the kids to run and hide and took off in the direction of the shot without a moment's hesitation. Mando released Omera’s hands and immediately took off into the woods after her. They entered the forest with their blasters raised and found Cara standing over a bounty hunter, a beeping tracker in her hand. 

“They were after the kid.” She tossed the tracker to Mando who studied it for a moment and dropped the tracker on the ground, smashing it with the heel of his boot. Valera kicked at the lifeless body of the bounty hunter and sighed. 

“Good, I was getting tired of this place anyways.” She tipped her head towards Cara and started walking back towards the village to pack up her things. Cara watched as she left and turned to Mando. 

“So much for leaving them behind, huh?” She searched the dead bounty hunter for any additional information but came up empty handed. “Come on, let’s get out of here before more of them show up.”

———

It didn’t take them long to gather up their belongings and get two shuttles packed up. Cara offered her services as a bodyguard but Mando declined, they would be heading straight for the Razor Crest not the village. Valera stood with a group of farmers speaking her goodbyes as they lamented her leaving. 

“But who will help us with our repairs now? Can’t you stay?” One farmer pleaded and she smiled but shook her head. 

“You’ll do alright on your own, just don’t forget what I taught you and you’ll be fine I promise.” She hugged each of the farmers and turned towards Cara who caught her in a big bear hug. 

“I’m gonna miss you little lady.” Cara squeezed Valera extra tight before letting her go, she offered the child her hand and he gently grasped one of her fingers and shook it. 

“I’m gonna miss you too little one.” She stepped away from the shuttle and shook hands with Mando.

“Until our paths cross.” Mando nodded and repeated the phrase watching as Valera caught Cara in one last hug before jumping up onto the shuttle with the child. Omera’s child broke from the teary eyed group of farmers to give the kid a last hug as well and Valera gave her a sad smile as she spoke her goodbyes to him. 

“He’ll miss you too Winta.” Valera caught Omera’s eye and gave her a curt nod as she approached Mando and thanked him. Turning away from the two, Valera took in the village for a last time, committing it to her memory. 

As they reached the Crest and moved their cargo onto the ship Valera asked if Mando would miss the village. He had a crate in his hands, but stopped and turned towards her. Tilting his head in thought before resuming his way up the Crest’s ramp.

“It was a nice village, but I’ve got everything I need right here.” He hefted the box for a moment at the top of the ramp and looked back down at her. “You coming?” 

She nodded and grabbed the last few things off of the shuttle before sending it on its way back towards the farming village. The flush on her face was noticeable as she joined him on the ship but she smiled in spite of it. As she settled into her co-pilot’s chair, she realized that she felt more at home on the Crest than anywhere else. They took off in search of a new planet and Valera let that piece of their shared life fall into her heart, the Razor Crest was her home and she never wanted to leave it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I like Cara acting as the protective mama bear, she was a lot of fun to write.


	5. A Flirtatious Fiend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sleepless nights end in a confession and a shootout that strands Mando and Valera on Tatooine. Toro Calican offers Mando a job but the price might be higher than they thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mesh'la - beautiful
> 
> Warning: mentions of death, killing, and bodies (no gore)

Mando’s hands flirted up Valera’s legs, searing her flesh as they moved. It was only the beginning and yet it already had her head spinning. _’How did we get here?’_ She wondered as he began tracing lazy patterns against her soft belly. Her breath hitched as he teased a finger past her undergarments, a single questioning motion before she gave a breathy _yes._ Mando nodded but removed his hand, instead going for his helmet. Valera gasped and reached for his hands, stilling them as her fingers gently caged his wrists. 

“Mando don’t. You don’t have to do that, for me. I know what it would mean if you removed it.” Her hands moved from his wrists to his shoulders and slowly down his still clothed chest. She smoothed the fabric over his heart but froze when he continued to move, the hiss of his helmet filling the room around them. 

“I want to.” Was all he said, she nodded slowly but gasped as the helmet was removed and clattered to the floor. Moff Gideon’s face loomed above her, and she shrieked at the sudden revelation. Doing her best to distance herself from him, she kicked and flailed against him as he simply laughed in her face and captured both of her wrists. 

“I’m coming for you little girl!” He screamed in her face, looming above her as Valera gave a sob and did her best to roll away from him. 

Her breath was ripped from her as she woke with a start on the floor of her sleeping quarters. She groaned and gently touched the goose egg forming on her head as she took a moment to take in her surroundings. She was on the Razor Crest, in her room, her legs were twisted and tangled in her sheets, and she was safe. _’It was just a dream.’_ An involuntary chill ran down her spine as she recalled the first half of her dream, and renewed warmth pooled in her for a moment. _’It was a good dream for a second there.’_ She shook her head as the vision of Moff Gideon surfaced again. It had been years and he would be older now, but his face was still crisp in her mind as if she had lost her family only yesterday. She untangled herself from her sheets and stood, no longer interested in sleep. She stretched for a moment and decided to take a walk to shake off the lingering thoughts of Moff. 

The ship was quiet, it was still night time as far as she could tell. They did their best to maintain a regular schedule for their sake and the child’s. WIth only the auxiliary lights to light her path, she made her way quietly towards the cockpit. The door to Mando’s quarters was closed, and she assumed he and the child were sleeping peacefully behind it. _’Lucky you.’_ Her face flushed again as she thought about her dream. It had felt so real, the month they had spent on Sorgan had only proven to her that she had a full blown crush on Mando. She felt like a child for even admitting that to Cara but her friend had been kind and gave her words of encouragement instead of chastising her. Now her dreams teased her with what she couldn’t have.

Mando had done nothing to give her any idea about his intentions towards her. His previous statement of having everything he needs, only puzzled her more when he made no move towards ruining their working relationship. _’Maybe he just meant he needs me as a mechanic nothing more.’_ She thought for the thousandth time over the two days they’d been aboard. She was still lost in thought as she entered the cockpit and startled to find it already occupied. 

———

Absently drumming his fingers on his helmet as it rested on his lap, Mando hadn’t been able to sleep either. He hadn’t even tried after last night’s failed attempt. Instead he sat in his pilot's seat and stared at the stars, willing them to quiet his mind. After a month off of the Crest, and having come to terms with his own feelings for Valera, he felt claustrophobic in his own ship. He had meant what he said back on Sorgan. She was every bit a part of his life now as he supposed the child was, but had shocked himself by admitting it so quickly. It had taken him too long to realize his feelings for her had been there nearly as long as she had been in his company. Things were different now, it was as if she was everywhere, on his mind, and in every part of the ship. He didn’t want to push his feelings on her if what Cara had said wasn’t true but the thought that he could have someone of his own after being alone for so long was too good to ignore. Without knowing her true feelings for him however, the past two days had been stifling.

He turned his head as he heard Valera stirring down in the cargo bay, _’Guess she can’t sleep either.’_ He donned his helmet silently wondering for a second if she would check on the child but remembered that he had left his door closed. _’She’ll think I’m asleep and come up here.’_ A smile played upon his lips as she quietly joined him in the cockpit a moment later. He swivelled his chair around and was about to say hello but froze as he took in her appearance. 

Valera stood equally taken back as her eyes rested on a once again armorless Mando. Her dream flashed across her mind once again as she took in his appearance. She wondered what it would feel like to act on the thoughts that were suddenly racing through her mind, a warm flush crept across her face and she tried to will it to go away as she whispered a hello to Mando. Her eyes were glued to his gloveless hands, racing over the curves and valleys of each finger, and the skin of her thighs willed the feeling of his hands on her back into existence. She gulped, her throat suddenly dry. 

His grip on his chair visibly tightened for a moment, before he gritted out a hello in return. Valera stood under his scrutiny for a moment longer before the realization that she was only in a sleep shirt occurred to her. Her face burned in embarrassment and she quickly looked from side to side mentally willing more clothes to appear out of nowhere. In the same moment she moved to flee back down the steps, Mando stood and caught her wrist gently stilling her as she turned back towards him. Time seemed to freeze as Valera stared up into his visor; a questioning gaze half hidden behind her long lashes, she worried her lip and then cast her gaze down at where he was now running his thumb over her pulse. 

Mando took in every movement she made and committed it to memory, his heart was pounding in his chest as he simply watched her, gauging her reaction to his presence in her space. He could feel her heart pounding as well, her pulse felt like a caged bird under his thumb and against his better judgement, he wanted more. She felt soft and warm to the touch and as he slowly ran his hand further up her arm she shivered under his touch. He wondered only for a second whether she was cold and gently drew her forward and into his embrace. He stilled as he caged her in with his arms, waiting for her to push him away, or question what he was doing. He had not anticipated she would hold him as tightly as she did, hesitantly nestling her head in against his shoulder and breathing him in in their shared silence. 

Her mind had been racing with questions and she half thought it was another dream as Mando gently drew her into his arms. Not wanting to break the spell they were under, she would take what she could get, and wrapped her arms tightly around him. Heat bloomed from her as she felt the warmth of his body against hers. He was firm, and warm, and real holding her against him, and she was at his mercy. Greedily breathing in his scent, hints of sandalwood and metal, with a trace of the day still on him, it was uniquely him and absolutely intoxicating. He mumbled something into her hair and she gave a muffled, ‘hmm?’ in return. She pulled her head back just enough to stare into the visor of his helmet. His warm laugh reverberated through the helmet’s modulator and he repeated himself. 

“I asked if this was ok.” He didn’t let her pull all the way out of their embrace, and caught her by the elbow as she nodded at him. He nodded in return but stilled for a moment to collect his thoughts. 

“I like you Valera,” once the words were out in the open he felt compelled to continue. “I meant what I said before. I have everything I need right here on this ship,... including you.” He smoothed his hand up and down her arm slowly, wondering how she would respond. He took a risk expressing his feelings towards her but he didn’t think Cara had had any reason to feed him false information. The soft look of surprise on Valera’s face warmed his heart and the smile that spread across her face would forever be one of his favorites. 

“I like you too Mando, I have for a while I think. I just didn’t realize until I saw you with Omera, I.. I know I didn’t have a right to, but she made me so jealous. I thought, maybe you’d actually want to settle down with her.” She shied away from his gaze but Mando brought his hand up and captured her chin in his hand. Bringing her face back towards his. 

“She could never compare to you, mesh'la.” She sucked in a breath having rarely heard him speak Mando’a. She had picked up bits and pieces, mostly swears if she was honest, but _this,_ was clearly something special. 

Before she could respond, the ship was struck from behind, causing the two to pitch towards the captain’s chair. They landed in a tangle of limbs and Mando cursed at the spoiled moment. Valera let fly a curse of her own before adjusting into a more comfortable position straddling Mando. With her hands on his shoulders and his hands firmly holding onto the back of her thighs, she cast a watchful eye out across the windows of the cockpit before looking back at Mando. 

“I’m sure it was just a little asteroid. Nothing the Crest can’t handle.” She gave him a quick smile before she fully took in their new position. Her eyes darkened and her dream swept its way back to the forefront of her mind. Deciding to test the waters of their shared feelings, she ran one of her hands down his chest. 

“I had a dream about you earlier, it started similarly to how we are now…” She ghosted her hips ever so slightly against his and felt him twitch beneath her. A smirk pulled at her lips, but before she could continue the radio crackled to life on the dash behind them. 

“Mando…..” The mysterious voice that came through was cold and unnerving, “I can bring you in warm... or I can bring you in cold…” The radio resumed its silent vigil and Mando pressed for Valera to move off of his lap. Turning back towards the console, Mando flipped a few switches and scanned the area around them. As soon as he caught sight of the ship, a second blast rocked the Razor Crest. 

“ _That’s my line._ Hold on, we’ve gotta get out of here.” Mando was immediately in control of the situation, deftly took the ship out of autopilot before speeding forward as a third blast rocked the ship. Valera followed his lead and ran down to check on the child. He was awake and crying, and she quickly picked him up and headed back up the ladder to the cockpit. Strapping him into the co-pilot’s seat she immediately raced back down the steps. 

“I’m gonna divert more power to the shields!” She called behind her as she made her way across the cargo bay and towards a small hatch in the back wall. Without a moment to think about what had just happened, she threw herself into her work, crawling inside of the small space and began working on rerouting what she could. It wasn’t enough, and eventually their shields failed. The bounty hunter was smart enough to shoot a hole in their fuel line and disrupted one of the ship’s engines. Valera wiped her brow as she worked to maintain the integrity of the rest of the ship.

Mando had made short work of the other bounty hunter but not before the Crest had taken too much damage. He appeared at the entrance of the work shaft and found Valera covered in bits of wire and grease. She gave him a weary smile when he communicated that they were safe for now, and then crawled out into the cargo bay. Replacing the panel, she stood and stretched for a moment, spending frantic minutes in the work shaft had already done a number on her aching muscles. Mando watched her appreciatively for a second before he stepped behind her to help the child who was now attempting to descend the cockpit ladder unaided. He caught the kid in his arms and Valera sighed knowing they were lucky to have had the peace they had back on Sorgan. 

“We need to find another place to lay low, but not before we get the ship patched up. I did what I could from here but we’ll need to land if we want to fix the engine and the fuel line.” She ran a tired hand through her hair and came back with a piece of wire. She laughed softly and looked at the kid in Mando’s arms. 

“How many of the bounty hunters are willing to come after us?” She absently twisted the wire into a knot.

“Not sure. We’ll have to take our chances for now. We’re coasting towards Tatooine so we’ll try our luck landing there. Then I’ll see if I can pick up a job to cover the materials for repairs.” He studied her a while longer and turned towards the cockpit. 

“You should get cleaned up and try to sleep. I’ll get us to Tatooine.” He left her alone in the cargo bay and Valera stared down at her shirt. It was completely ruined, the grease alone had seen to that but she had also burned a few holes in it while she was rewiring power to the shields. She looked up at the cockpit and quickly tossed her soiled shirt into the trash before heading into the fresher to take a shower. After she was dry and in clean clothes, she was willing to admit how exhausted she was. The night had been a rollercoaster of emotions and was enough to send her head spinning if she thought too long about it. She settled happily on the knowledge that Mando had feelings for her, and then wondered where things would have led without the bounty hunters interruption. With the very real knowledge of how good his hands felt on her thighs, she drifted into a dreamless sleep. 

———

Valera woke and dressed just as they touched down in Mos Eisley. Exhilarated at the fact that Peli had arranged for the Crest to come to her hangar, Valera ran down the ramp as soon as it touched the ground, and flew into Peli’s waiting arms. Valera swung the smaller woman around in a circle for a moment before placing her down again. Peli recoiled and held a hand out in an unbalanced manner before grinning at Valera. 

“Watch it kid, you trying to see what I had for lunch?” She nodded at Mando who disembarked from the ship a moment later. He reiterated his dislike of droids before wandering off in search of work. Peli shook her head at him and turned back to Valera. 

“Not much of a talker is he? Now hello, who do we have here?” Peli and Valera both turned to watch as the child slowly made his way down the ship’s ramp and over to them. Valera explained what she knew of the child and Peli listened, as she watched the kid interact with her pit droids. Together they dove into work and had the Razor Crest back up and running in no time. An hour later, Peli and the child were taking a nap in her office and Valera was running through their last systems checks as Mando returned. Peli startled awake and Valera came out of the ship to meet them. 

“Valera, we’ve got a job. I want you to come along as backup.” He turned towards Peli and the kid in her arms. “Do you mind watching him for a while? This should only take a day or two at most.” 

“Oh don’t mind me, just leave the rest of the work and the baby to ol’ Peli, I’ll be fine!” She eyed Mando for a moment, demanded additional funds for babysitting, and he conceded. Agreeing to pay her upon their return. As soon as they had their things packed, Mando led Valera out of the hangar to where a young man standing in front of two speeder bikes. 

“I didn’t know you’d bring backup Mando. What, afraid you can’t handle this job alone?” The stranger looked Valera up and down before smirking and holding his hand out to her. “Hey there, Toro Calican at your service. It’s a pleasure to meet you and don’t worry beautiful, I’ll keep you out of harm's way.” Mando bristled but said nothing as Valera took in Toto’s appearance and warily shook his hand. 

“Gee what a charmer. The pleasure’s all yours I assure you.” Valera gave a side glance at Mando who shook his head a fraction before placing their gear on the back of one of the speeders and mounted the bike. Calican gestured towards his own speeder and made a show of dusting off the seat. 

“My lady, your ride awaits.” His cocky grin was wiped off of his face as Valera stared at his speeder, walked between the two bikes, and proceeded to jump onto the back Mando’s. Calican held up his hands for a moment and jumped onto his own bike, winking at her as he turned back to look at the two. 

“Hey hey, no worries! I’m new, I get it. You’ll warm up to me eventually though, no doubt about it.” Valera simply rolled her eyes and Mando wasted no time in heading into the Dune Sea in search of their quarry. 

After travelling for a while across the dunes, Mando brought them to a stop and pointed ahead to where two Tusken Raiders were attending to some banthas. Valera swung off of the speeder and shielded her eyes against the glare of the suns and Calican dismounted his speeder to make a show of taking out a pair of binoculars to see them better. 

“They best keep their distance.” Calican threatened before turning around and visibly startling at the sudden appearance of two more Raiders. Valera laughed and he huffed at her before turning and silently waiting as Mando began negotiations with the Raiders. Eventually, they agreed to take Calican’s binoculars in exchange for passage through the dunes. 

“Those were brand new!” He pointed at the Raiders but they simply stood and stared at him. Mando and Valera swung back onto their speeder and Mando turned his head towards Calican. 

“Yeah, they were. Now come on.” He sped out into the Dune Sea without waiting for him. 

Their path through the dunes was straight and narrow but it still took hours to make any progress towards their target. Eventually they stopped again as Mando spotted an unconscious rider being dragged by a dewback. Mando swung off of the speeder and went to investigate while Valera was left with Calican up on a dune. Valera anxiously watched Mando approach the fallen rider, but Calican called to him and said that he’d want to split the rider’s belongings. Afterwards he turned towards Valera and jerked his head in Mando’s direction. 

“So uh what’s the appeal there, you have a thing for tin cans? I’ll be in the Bounty Hunter’s Guild soon, you should stick with me instead.” Valera kept her eyes on Mando but huffed a laugh towards Calican. 

“And what am I supposed to find appealing about _you_ huh? The fact that you’ve been trying to hit on me this whole time? Or the fact that you’re insulting the people you hired to help you? I’ll stick with someone with morals. Thanks.” A shot suddenly rang out and hit Mando in the chest. Valera gasped and slid carefully down off of her speeder, grabbing her blaster as she crept up the side of the dune. Mando crested it just as another shot rang out and clipped his armor. He fell over the dune and quickly scrambled back up beside Valera. 

“Are you alright?” She asked, trying to see if there was anything out of place across the sand in front of them. 

“What happened?” Calican stared at Mando and then back out at the dewback. 

“A sniper bolt.” Mando calmed both of their fears for the moment explaining it hadn’t been enough to damage his beskar. Valera shook her head and backed down the side of the dune. 

“The only thing in front of us is that ridgeline, at least we know they’re still pretty far away.” Calican turned and looked at Valera and then back at Mando.

“I don’t have beskar, does she have beskar? How are we supposed to do this?” He carefully backed down off of the dune and started rifling through his bag, but came up with nothing. “See? This is all I’ve got!” He gestured towards his jacket as Mando joined them down behind the dune. 

“You’ll be fine. She’ll wait for us to make the first move so we’re gonna wait until dark. I’m gonna rest. Calican you take the first watch.” He walked over to his speeder and sat down, leaning against it for support. Valera sat down beside Mando and watched as Calican grumbled but carefully crawled his way back up the side of the dune. 

“Do you think we can trust him? He’s practically a kid.” Valera whispered to Mando, he gave her a shrug as he leaned his head against the speeder. 

“Do we have a choice? Try and get some sleep, I know neither of us got very much last night.” He reached over and grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze before drifting off to sleep. Valera smiled at their interlaced fingers and then watched over him as he slept. She knew she hadn’t been sleeping well, but from the speed at which Mando nodded off she’d say he hadn’t slept at all the past two nights. She stayed up for a while longer before falling asleep with her head on his shoulder. 

———

Night fell soon enough and the two woke to Calican calling Mando an old man. Valera squeezed Mando’s hand as he asked Calican if he was done showing off before discussing their plan to capture their bounty. He handed Valera a small bag of flash chargers and threw one to Calican. 

“We blind her, get as close as we can with our speeders, and we’ve got a chance. You got it?” He mounted his speeder with Valera and Calican did the same, questioning the validity of their plan. Mando sped off with Calican close behind, and Valera readied a flash charge. On Mando’s command, she fired it into the sky, closing her eyes against the brilliant while light. They were soon again engulfed in darkness, and continued speeding towards the ridgeline. A bolt landed between the two speeders and Calican fired his flash charge as a second bolt missed them. The second charge only skirted along the sand beside them and failed to detonate properly.

The third sniper bolt caught Mando’s speeder square in the nose and Valera and Mando were catapulted over the ruined speeder. Knocking the wind out of them as they landed, Valera coughed in the sand as Mando fished out a flash charge and covered Calican’s race towards the ridgeline. Another sniper bolt rang out and caught Mando in the chest. He flew backwards past Valera who was immediately crawling to his side to check for damage. 

The sniper up on the ridge had the couple in her sights just as Calican caught up to her. Fennec Shand easily disarmed Calican before attacking him. Abandoning her sniper rifle, she immediately launched herself at Calican and a skirmish ensued. Meanwhile down below, Mando pushed Valera away assuring her that he was fine and pointed up to the ridge where red blaster bolts were lighting up the rocky terrain.

“We’ve gotta get up there and help him, she’ll kill him if we don’t.” Valera nodded at him but looked back at the ruined speeder that lay in pieces behind him. 

“You go, I’ll see what I can do to get this up and running again.” She grabbed his arm for a moment and he turned back to her, “Be safe.” Was all she said before releasing him and watching as he disappeared up the side of the ridge. 

———

Fennec had wasted no time in giving Calican a good fight. A skilled sniper, she had also taken the time to train in hand to hand combat. The young bounty hunter did his best to fend off her attacks but was soon focused on defending himself rather than working towards her capture. Just as Fennec gained a clear upper hand, Mando appeared and stopped their fight. Once she was cuffed and unarmed, they made their way back down to the bottom of the ridgeline and found Valera carrying what was left of their gear away from the ruined speeder. 

“It’s no good, she shot the engine to hell and the frame didn’t hold up when we crashed. We’ll need something else to get us all back to Mos Eisley.” She dropped their gear at their feet and Mando surveyed the desert around them looking for the abandoned dewback they had come across earlier that day. He caught sight of it a ways off, motionless and sleeping for the night. 

After Calican refused to go and retrieve the dewback, Mando had no choice but to go after it himself. He handed Fennec’s sniper rifle to Valera and stalked off into the night to retrieve the dewback. Fennec watched as Mando disappeared into the darkness and then eyed Valera as she slung the rifle across her back. 

“You even know how to use that thing?” Fennec tipped her head towards the rifle, and Valera pulled it back off of her shoulder and pointed it at Fennec. 

“Not really, but at this range I’m pretty sure it’ll still put a pretty big hole in you. Should we find out?” She kept the rifle steadied and aimed at Fennec until Calican stepped between the two telling them to calm down. Fennec shot a look at Calican but shrugged and mockingly raised her cuffed hands at him before looking back to Valera as she slung the rifle back onto her shoulder. 

“You've got teeth, I like that. I bet you’re that woman that Mandalorian didn’t turn in, aren’t you?” She turned towards Calican again who stared at Valera with a confused expression on his face. “Isn’t it interesting how a Mandalorian can just _decide_ whether or not to turn in his pretty bounties like that? Doesn’t seem fair to the guild if you ask me.” Calican turned to look at Fennec as Valera told her to be quiet.

“What are you talking about?” He looked at Valera as Fennec explained what had happened on Nevarro and the rumors that a Mandalorian had held onto two bounties instead of carrying out his role as a bounty hunter. She smirked as Valera feigned nonchalance at the story but Calican continued to stare at Valera. 

“Is that true? Is your Mandalorian the one that was on Nevarro?” He stepped towards Valera and she held her hands up to diffuse the situation. 

“There’s plenty of Mandalorians with the guild, and plenty more who travel with smugglers, now keep quiet both of you.” Her words seemed to placate Calican for the time being and he went back to the speeder to rest for a while. Soon enough he was snoring loudly and the two women continued to sit in amiable silence for a few hours. 

As the suns began to rise and Mando still hadn’t returned, Fennec scuffed her boot in the sand and drew Valera’s attention. She tipped her head in Calican’s direction.

“He’s not very smart is he?” Valera laughed and shook her head. 

“Just wait until he tries to flirt with you.” The two women laughed together and Valera moved closer to sit in front of Fennec. 

“What made you think Mando and I were the ones everyone’s talking about?” She settled down crossed legged near Fennec but not too close to worry about the other woman trying to steal any weapons from her. Fennec smirked at her and scanned the horizon for Mando’s potential return. 

“It was his beskar,... and you. The talk around Nevarro is that a silver clad Mandalorian took off with two high paying bounties. A woman.” She cast her eyes back towards Valera for a moment and then scanned the horizon again. “And a child. I may not see a child here, but I certainly saw an all silver Mandalorian and a woman who seems to know her way around a gun.” Not seeing any movement out on the sand, she leaned back against a rock and stared Valera straight in the eye. “So you tell me, am I right?” 

“I suppose you already know the answer to that.” Valera caught movement from Calican as he woke and joined them moments later. She nodded a morning to him and stood, swinging the sniper rifle off of her back and held it in her arms. 

“I’m gonna go up on the ridge and see if I can spot Mando coming, stay down here with her.” She wandered off towards the rocky outcrop and Fennec only waited a minute before working on Calican again. 

“You see it now don’t you? They’re worth more than my bounty would ever be. Why team up with them, when you could just turn them in?” Calican scoffed at her but asked if she was sure it was this Mandalorian who had been involved. She nodded at him solemnly. 

“How many Mandalorians do you see out and about these days? You bring those two in, and the guild will welcome you with open arms.” She continued to play to his ego as he mulled over the idea and soon he was standing in front of her waiting for her to come closer. _’Gotcha.’_ Fennec thought as she carefully stood before him and held her cuffed hands out towards him for him to remove. Instead of reaching to uncuff her, his face darkened and suddenly he unholstered his blaster and shot her point blank. Fennec’s confusion was plain on her face as she fell to her knees in front of him. He knelt down beside her, and took a look up at the ridge to see Valera staring down at him in shock. He smirked and looked back down at Fennec. 

“That’s good advice, but if I took those cuffs off of you, I’d be a dead man. Thanks for the tip though.” Fennec dropped to the ground before him and he quickly took off on the speeder before Valera could reach them. 

He had disappeared over the horizon just as Valera reached the sand again. Racing towards Fennec’s body she checked her for vitals but she was already starting to fade. Realizing everything she had brought was on the speeder she cursed and searched the dunes for Mando. Finally, she saw his armor glinting in the light of the suns, and soon enough he had returned with the dewback. Finding Valera alone with Fennec’s body, he asked her what had happened. She conveyed what she had seen, confirming his suspicions and turned back towards Fennec who was unconscious and barely breathing. 

“Leave her. We won’t be able to get to help before she dies. I’m sorry.” Valera bit her lip but nodded knowing he was right. It had taken them hours to find her when they had the speeder bikes and now they’d have to make the same trip on the dewback. Fennec wouldn’t make it through the desert without any supplies to dress her wound. She laid Fennec’s rifle down beside her and solemnly joined Mando on the back of the dewback. 

———

They made it back to Mos Eisley by nightfall and Valera pointed out Calican’s speeder parked near Peli’s hangar. The two dismounted from the dewback and Mando brushed Valera’s arm to get her attention. 

“I’ll handle Calican, you find the kid, ok?” Valera nodded but walked over to the speeder and pulled her knife out of her boot. Stabbing it in the fuel tank of the speeder, she reshealthed the blade and watched as the fuel ran in rivets down the side of the bike. 

“Now, I’ll go.” She said as she gathered their bags from the speeder and dropped them closer to the doorway of the hangar. Standing at the entrance for a moment, they both drew their blasters and entered the dark space. Inside the hangar it was eerily quiet. Valera split off from Mando and stayed close to the wall, edging forward in the near darkness, she immediately caught sight of Peli and the child at the top of the Razor Crest’s ramp with Calican standing behind them. Mando saw them too and Valera moved to stand beside him as Calican pushed Peli down the ramp in front of him with the tip of his blaster. 

“Drop your blasters and raise your hands.” He gestured towards them menacingly and they slowly complied, tossing their blasters in the sand at their feet. Calican pointed towards Valera and gestured at her again. 

“The knife too sweetheart, I know you’ve got one on you. I can always search you, if you don’t want to comply.” He smirked at Valera as she slowly knelt down and pulled the knife from her boot. She tossed it towards her blaster and stood once again with her hands raised and knitted behind her head. Calican pushed Peli off of the ramp, telling her to cuff them and she gave Valera a worried look as she clasped a pair of cuffs on her wrists. 

“It’s alright Peli just do what you’ve gotta do.” Valera whispered to her friend as she moved on to cuff Mando. Peli froze for a moment as Calican droned on about ‘guild traitors’ and ‘being a legend’ once he brought them in. He didn’t catch that Peli hadn’t cuffed Mando and immediately dropped the child when Mando threw a flash charge towards him. He shot blindly in the hangar but the three had quickly dodged out of harm's way. Mando and Valera had lunged forward to grab their blasters and fire at Calican, while Peli retreated into her office where her pit droids stood cowering in a corner. She quickly returned with a blaster of her own to join the fight but it was already over. Calican’s body lay crumpled on the ground, and Valera and Peli immediately searched for the kid. A cry of relief came from Peli as they found him safely hiding behind some barrels. She lifted the kid up into her arms and Valera was immediately checking him for injuries and Mando stalked over to Calican’s body pulling a credit pouch from his waist. 

Peli handed the kid over to Valera and together they walked over to Mando. Peli clasped her hands and looked over at Calican before staring up at Mando. 

“I take it you two didn’t get paid? And now I’ll have this body to deal with.” She sighed but Mando just held out Calican’s credit pouch and dumped the contents of it into her hands as she cupped them in front of him. “You know what, we’ll call this even. You’re good to go!” She called to her droids and instructed them to drag the body to Beggar’s Canyon and then said her goodbyes to Valera, picking up the forgotten knife and returning it to her as she said farewell. 

Mando boarded the ship and keyed up the engines as he waited for Valera to join him. A few minutes later, and the child preceded her appearance, joining Mando up in the cockpit as he reached for his favorite silver ball. Mando unscrewed it and handed it to the child just as Valera swept into the space and flopped down in her co-pilot’s chair. 

“Let’s find something that’s not guild related this time. What do you think?” She asked as she reached down and perched the kid up on her lap. Mando nodded at her and punched in a few coordinates, letting the ship ascend out of the hangar. 

“I think I’ve got something in mind.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a fun teaser for what's to come. The dream teaser feels a little overused but I don't care!


	6. Three’s a Crowd and Eight’s a Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bad job gets worse and Valera is once again caught in the crossfire. Sometimes a gut feeling is worth listening to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: we're finally getting to some very mature content! Hope you enjoy!
> 
> cyar'ika - darling, beloved, sweetheart

It took them only a couple of days to fly to Mando’s intended destination. Valera had heard him talking to someone on the comms but he hadn’t shared anything about who. In the meantime she kept herself busy looking after the child, and fine tuning a few of the ship’s programs to distract herself. The mood had been tense lately, whether it was the latest near death experience they had shared or the fact that they couldn’t catch a break from bounty hunters was unclear, but everytime the two had a moment to themselves something seemed to come up. _’Maybe I had been too forward before…’_ She had been so excited to hear her feelings returned she hadn’t taken into consideration what an actual relationship with Mando would look like. He’d never take his helmet off in front of her, that was a given, but what else would be off limits? Mando caught her attention as he joined her in the cargo bay.

“We’re almost to our destination, I have an old acquaintance who has a job for me. We’ll be docking at his space station soon.” He was silent for a moment and Valera stood in front of him unsure if there was more to know. Then he stepped closer and took her hand in his, heaving a sigh as he continued, “There are some things from my past that I’m not proud of and the beings we’re about to meet up with are a prime example. I’d feel better if you and the kid stayed hidden on the ship while they’re on board.” He stared down at their hands and gently ran this thumb across her skin. She smiled at the gesture but had unanswered questions swirling in her mind. 

“I can hold my own, you’ve seen what I can do.” Her first instinct was to be defensive, she had been more than capable of keeping herself out of trouble over the years, surely this group of thugs would be no worse than any others but he remained silent and it gave her reason to double back on her initial statement. “Are they really that bad?”

“Worse. They’d sell you both to the highest bidder in an instant.” He looked down at the child as he wandered merrily around the space, babbling to himself as he played. Mando had already grown accustomed to the two of them being in his life, and had only just shared his feelings with Valera. _’I won’t lose you now.’_ He sighed and Valera gripped his hand more tighty, appreciating that he just wanted to keep them safe, she wanted to keep him safe too. 

“Ok, we’ll hide.” Mando turned towards her and pulled her into a tight hug, before separating from her and opening the door to his quarters and gesturing towards her. She gave him a quizzical look but picked up the child and stood beside Mando as she placed the kid in his hammock. She brushed her hand against Mando’s vambrace as they stood in the little doorway. 

“Stay safe for me.” Her words ghosted down Mando’s spine, bringing goosebumps with them. He stared at her in awe, still shocked that she had shared her feelings for him, his mind immediately returned to that sleepless night a few days ago and then even further as he pushed back into what ifs of possibilities. Could they be a family some day? Would she even want that?

“I will.” He stepped back to watch as she entered the room, _his room._ She molded herself into his world more easily than he ever would have thought possible and now as he pressed the button to close the door he knew he didn’t want to lose her. _’This is the right thing to do._ He stood in front of the closed door a moment longer but soon moved back up to the cockpit to guide the Crest down into the hangar of the space station that loomed before him. 

———

Mando hadn’t said how long the job would be but that didn’t bother Valera. As soon as she had crawled into his sleeping quarters she was enveloped by a little world that was entirely his. She would have felt like she was trespassing if he hadn’t been the one to usher her into the space. It was a fairly standard room, only enough capacity for the bed and a few shelves cut into the wall beside it. She took a deep breath and basked in the smell of sandalwood and gunmetal, of Mando himself. The Razor Crest groaned around her and seemed to sag as it announced its arrival in the hangar. Valera’s wandering mind turned away from the few trinkets Mando had stored on his shelves and turned back to the severity of their current situation. The child cooed down at her from his hammock and she raised her arms towards him to bring him down into her lap. She looked around the space for something to occupy the kid and huffed a laugh when her eyes landed on the silver ball that should have been on the gear shifter in the cockpit and her blaster. _’He’s always one step ahead of me,”_ she gave the child the ball and settled down with the blaster pointed towards the door hoping the mission would just run smoothly.

———

It wasn’t long before she heard someone board the ship. She couldn’t tell what they were up to, but assumed the party would be leaving soon. The same mystery figure left the ship only to return shortly with the rest of the group and they soon took off towards their intended target. A muffled conversation could be heard through the door and Valera tightened her grip on the blaster as she listened for individual voices. _’One, two, three,... and_ she sucked in a breath, _’Mando? Then who was flying the ship?’_ She continued to listen in on the conversation, wondering exactly who these beings were and how Mando knew them. She was most curious when a feminine voice claimed to know who Mando ‘truly is’, Valera felt a spike of jealousy run through her as she wondered who the mystery woman was and just how well Mando knew her. She shook her head and let the thought fly away from her, if Mando had a history with this other woman it was none of her business. Regardless of how they knew each other, she reassured herself that Mando liked her and not some old acquaintance. If he did, she certainly wouldn’t be hiding in his room with a kid right now. The confidence that Mando had changed from what this other woman believed him to be, warmed Valera’s heart. He was still a ruthless bounty hunter, but a cold hearted one? Not anymore.

She bristled as they shifted the conversation towards picking on Mando. Worrying her lip as Mando stayed silent, she jumped when there was sounds of a scuffle and suddenly the door in front of her hissed open. Before her, she could now see the surprised look of another human and a female Twi'lek sitting just past him. On instinct, Valera moved the kid behind her to shield him but it was too late and the man within her line of sight stood and approached her. 

“Who are you? And what is that?” He questioned, turning his questioning eyes towards Mando and then back to Valera. “Are you keeping secrets Mando? That’s not nice, and such a pretty secret too.” He stood with a hand idling over one of his holstered blasters and Valera grumbled to herself but holstered her own blaster. She stepped out of the room as Migs Mayfeld introduced himself and Xi'an who had now approached to gawk at Valera and the kid. 

“I’m Valera, I’m Mando’s mechanic… and uh pet.. sitter…” She looked over to Mando and caught sight of a Devaronian still extracting himself from the fresher. Migs made a joke that the child was a product of Xi’an and Mando but Mando calmly reinforced the pet theory. Valera warily watched as Xi’an called Mando soft, and then turned too late before Migs swooped past Valera, and picked up the child. His jokes about trying to raise the child fell flat but as they exited hyperdrive, everyone went flying. Valera fell hard to her hands and knees next to Migs who had let the child go flying away from him. She cursed and wondered for a moment how Mando felt having a droid fly the Crest but quickly regained her balance and went after the child, picking him up as the ship settled and the others regained their balance. The others complained about the droid’s lack of grace with flying as the ship landed and anchored itself to a New Republic correctional transport. Migs pointed towards Valera and turned to Mando. 

“She comes with.” He glanced at Xi’an and Burg before Mando took a step towards him. 

“No. They both stay on the ship. The job was for me and my ship, that’s it.” He wavered between standing firmly in front of Valera to shield her from his former co-conspirators but decided against it. They were already at risk by being exposed to the group, he didn’t need to indicate any attachment and put them in more danger. Valera silently agreed with Mando’s reply but Migs was having none of it. 

“Nah, not this time Mando. _This_ was a surprise, and I don’t like surprises. The pet can stay, but Valera is coming with us. She can keep Xi’an company, can’t she Xi’an?” The Twi'lek cast a dubious look at Migs but nodded enthusiastically at Valera, she had been twirling a throwing knife in her fingers and now stabbed the blade into a panel on the wall of the Crest. Valera wanted to reprimand her for carelessly putting holes in the ship but bit her tongue.

“Oh yes, we’ll have _lots_ of fun.” She replied, prying the blade out of the panel and resheathing it. With the decision apparently no longer up for discussion, Mando went about opening a drop hatch in the bottom of the ship as Valera picked up the child, stowed him away in his hammock, and closed the door once again. A bad feeling settled into her gut as she turned to join the others, but there was nothing they could do now. She’d have to go along with the Twi’lek for now and hope things went smoothly. 

———

Migs jumped down into the hallway of the other ship and directed the droid, Zero, to lead them to the control room. Xi’an indicated for Valera to follow him and she gave Mando a nod before jumping down into the ship with Xi’an close behind. They were joined by Burg and finally Mando, then quickly made their way through the corridors of prisoners. Mando voiced his concerns over the mission as the others made fun of him again. Valera startled as one of the prisoners squealed at them and attempted to grab at her through the bars of his cell. Mando had his hand on his blaster and locked eyes with Valera. But she only shook her head and kept walking, embarrassed to have been caught off guard so easily. The others simply laughed at her and continued on their way. 

“What a baby.” Xi’an commented, giving a snarl as she faked a lunge at Valera. The comment was met with no response as they came upon a hallway closest to the control room. Burg shot and disabled a repair droid as it tried to flee the area and soon they were surrounded by security droids. The group immediately surged into action, fighting the droids as best as they could but they were too exposed there in the hallway and were drawing too much fire. The five of them did their best to hide along the doors of the cells but Migs realized that Mando was suddenly missing. 

“I knew it! He’s nothing special, how are we gonna get out of here without our backup?” Valera continued to shoot at the security droids but turned to confirm what Migs had said. Mando had been there only moments before but the alcove across from her was empty. He suddenly reappeared behind the security droids having simply circled around the main hallway, and attacked the droids from behind. Bringing renewed confidence to the group, the others continued to fire on the droids but it was Mando who inevitably took out the majority of the guards. Not one to be outdone, Migs simply chastised Mando about the mess he made before the group pressed on. Valera kicked at one of the droids as she fell in step beside Mando. 

“Some team we’ve got here.” She whispered. He turned towards her for a moment and shrugged. The next turn down the hall led the group to the control room and Zero opened the doors to reveal a human guard. The group stopped in the doorway before carefully entering the room. Mando made mention that there were only supposed to be droids on board but Migs ignored him and looked up the cell they were there to find. The bewildered guard raised a tracking beacon and flashed it at the group. Migs frowned at the guard and after explaining that the tracker would bring an attack team to their coordinates to kill them, the team started to unravel. Xi’an was clearly frustrated by this piece of information and Mando attempted to keep the peace and persuade the guard not to use the tracker. 

As a stand off between Mando, Migs, and Burg began, Valera joined them, pointing her blaster towards Burg as she stared at the wild eyed guard, hoping this wouldn’t end in bloodshed. Unfortunately as the tension rose, it was just as quickly dissolved by a single blade thrown at the guard. He crumpled to the floor and Xi’an calmly retrieved her blade from the guard’s lifeless form. Migs claimed he had had everything under control and Valera scoffed. 

“Oh is that what that was?” He glared at her before staring down at the tracker which had been activated in the scuffle. Zero confirmed their suspicions that the New Republic team would be approaching their location in twenty minutes and the team whipped into action. Racing down the hallway, Burg encountered a hover droid and dispensed of it by throwing it into a second droid. They finally reach the intended cell and open it. 

Inside is another Twi’lek, who Mando addressed as Qin, stepped out of the cell. Qin distracts Mando as Burg suddenly pushed him into the cell and Migs closed the door once more. Valera stepped forward to stop him but Xi’an cuffed her wrists in front of her and laughed, as she ripped her blaster away from her and threw it to the ground. Valera whipped around to confront the Twi’lek but she simply wagged her finger at her as Burg then pushed Valera to move along with them. 

“Don’t worry Mando, your lover will be well cared for! Oh and we’ll take great care of that little pet of yours too!” Xi’an’s laughter filled the hallway as they moved to escape back to the Razor Crest. Valera did her best to keep her composure as she moved along with the group, and smiled as Zero informed them soon after that the Mandalorian had already escaped. Xi’an let loose a scream, and Valera laughed at her frustration. 

“Are you really that surprised?” She asked. Xi’an turned on her and brought a knife up to her throat, sneering up towards her face.

“You think you’re so cute? You were just along for the ride with him. He’s already had the best, why would he ever want something second rate like you, womp rat?” Migs pulled Xi’an away from Valera and she immediately turned her anger towards him, arguing that they should have killed Mando instead. Valera simply watched the argument grow and soon enough the others were all consumed in it. The barb from Xi’an hurt but she didn’t dwell on it, finding a way to remove her cuffs was her first priority. She admittedly didn’t know much about Mando’s working past and what the Twi’lek said could very well have been true, but she didn’t have time to think about it. 

As the argument continued, the group collectively groaned as the power switched into lockdown mode and the doors around them began to close. Burg pulled Valera along with the rest of them as they took off down the only hall still open to them. The team was quickly separated as Burg, Valera, and Xi’an were left stranded behind a locked door. With a new plan to find and kill Mando, and with suddenly no help from Zero, the new teams continued their efforts to get off of the ship. After a brief discussion at yet another intersection, Xi’an dragged Valera along with her as the two split off from Burg. The Twi’lek gripped Valera’s arm with menacing force, drawing blood with her nails as she stormed down the hallways with no real direction in mind. All the while she taunted Valera about Mando.

“He never had better when he was with me. I took such good care of him I ruined him for anyone else. Look at you, where did he find you, living in the trash? He wouldn't even look at you if I wanted him back.” She went on and on with this line of taunts but Valera suddenly laughed out loud. The Twi’lek turned on her and flashed one of her throwing knives at Valera who just shook her head and wiped a tear from her eye.

“Oh thank you, thank you for that. I really needed a laugh. Xi’an stared in confusion at her and moved to grab her cuffs. Seeing that they were still locked properly she stared at Valera and pointed the knife at her again. 

“What are you talking about? Why are you laughing?” Valera just shook her head and smiled at the Twi’lek before her.

“You haven’t slept with Mando.” Xi’an’s face drained of color for a moment as Valera continued. “You haven’t done anything with Mando or you’d have made a bigger deal of it in the first place. A lady doesn’t kiss and tell? But here you are droning on and on about it to me. So which is it? Either you dicked him down so well he’s been pining after you ever since or…” She smirked at the blade in XI’an’s hand, “Maybe someone got rejected and can’t. quite. handle. it.” Xi’an’s anger exploded and she moved to plunge her knife into Valera’s chest. Valera easily caught her blow with her cuffs and twisted her hands to grab Xi’an’s arm and pull her further into her forward motion. Using the Twi’lek’s momentum to her advantage, Valera head butted the other woman with as much force as she could muster and staggered back as Xi’an recoiled from the attack. Valera followed the other woman and proceeded to kick her in the chest as hard as she could, bringing the Twi'lek to her knees as she now gasped for air. 

A quick search of Xi’an’s body revealed the keys to her cuffs and once freed, Valera dashed off down the hallway leaving Xi’an to her fate. However just as she slowed to take a corner, the sharp bite of metal tore into the flesh of her calf and her lower back. Valera stopped to stare down at the throwing knives now sticking out of her leg and torso. She flashed a look of surprise towards Xi’an who was now on the ground howling with laughter but turned to continue her escape. Finding her way back to the ship had been a challenge in itself and the adrenaline had begun to wear off as the ladder to the Crest finally came into view. She came to a slow stop and caught her breath at the base of it, and clung heavily to its rungs. 

She heard the child’s coos from up above her and immediately called out to Zero.

“Zero! Are you there? I need your help!” A moment passed and the droid appeared above her in the hatch. A blaster bolt suddenly shot past her and the droid crumpled backwards out of view. She turned to see that Mando who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere and she let loose a sob to find him unharmed. The Mandalorian realized she was injured and took her in his arms as Qin rounded the corner and ascended the ladder before them. Surprisingly he reached back down, took Valera’s arm, and lifted her up into the ship.

“Let’s get outta here.” He gruffed at her and released her as soon as she was onboard. He moved past her and the remains of Zero’s body towards the cockpit to get the ship into orbit. Mando swam back into her vision again as he closed and locked the hatch. Valera was losing blood more quickly than she thought, and she began to move in and out of consciousness. She barely groaned at Mando as he picked her up and laid her down on the med table he had rolled out of the wall. He surged forward and across her body for a moment as they made the jump into hyperspace but quickly righted himself and set to work to extract the blades. He cut away the fabric around the wounds, and did his best to keep Valera conscious. 

The child tried to join him in his efforts but his cries to be picked up went unanswered. Mando continued to work with concerned precision as he pulled each knife out and cleaned the wounds before carefully stitching them closed. If it had been anyone else, he wouldn’t have cared to take his time, and probably would have just cauterized everything but as he stared down at Valera’s unconscious and fevered face, he didn’t know if she would make it. _’How much blood did you lose…’_ He wondered, as he sifted through the small med kit that was on board. He pulled out two bacta patches and applied them to the wounds hoping he had done enough to save her. He stroked her hair for a moment after he was done and leaned over her, gently resting his helmet against her head. 

“Stay with me Val, please stay with me.” He whispered to her everything he could, his regret for not acting on his feelings sooner. The fact that she thought Omera would have been more suitable for him, and his worries that her being with him would only ever put her in danger. He sighed and rocked with the ship as it pulled out of hyperdrive signally their proximity to the space station. He pulled back from Valera and placed the child up beside her as Qin landed the ship in the hangar. The two men disembarked from the ship and the child turned towards Valera and placed a small hand delicately on the wound on her torso. Despite his efforts to deactivate Zero earlier, he still had enough energy left in him to aid in her healing process. However the effort to help her sapped him of what was left of his strength, and when Mando reboarded the ship alone, he found the two sleeping peacefully on the med table.

———

He took pleasure in watching the New Republic ships descend upon the space station but didn’t stick around to watch the explosion that was soon to follow. Knowing that Ran and the others got what they deserved was good enough for him and he jumped into hyperspace. An hour later, he was satisfied that no one was coming after him and jumped out of hyperspace. Letting the ship idle out in the outskirts of the galaxy, he ducked back down to the cargo bay to find Valera still asleep. He moved the child to his hammock before he brought a chair over to the med table and sat down next to Valera. He sank heavily into the seat and rested his arms along the table for a moment before absently running his fingers along the wound on her torso. 

The bacta patch there appeared to have done its job and had already closed up her wound. He smiled for a moment and removed his gloves, before gently pulling back the bacta patch and went about removing the no longer needed stitches. He gently applied a new patch when he was done and left his hand on the wound for a moment before he smoothed it slowly across the plane of Valera’s stomach. Her skin was soft and warm under his touch. A laugh sounded beside him and he turned to see Valera beginning to wake up. 

“That tickles, Mando.” Her eyes were still closed but her hand reached out and rested on top of his fingers. He watched as Valera’s eyes opened and she tried to sit up. He pressed his hand against her shoulder and stopped her from moving too fast.

“Wait, don’t.” She tried to sit up anyways, and the room immediately began to spin. 

“Woooah, ok too fast.” She laid back down on the table, and locked eyes with Mando’s helmet as he shook his head at her. She frowned wondering how long she had been out, but Mando spoke before she could ask. 

“I thought I was going to lose you, Val.” He ran his hand back over the bacta patch on her torso but pulled away and let his hand drop to his side. 

“Hey, I’m right here. You really think I’d let Xi’an get the satisfaction of killing me? I don’t think so.” She coughed and tried to sit up again but this time Mando stood and scooped her up into his arms. She automatically wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed herself closer to him as he walked her towards her sleeping quarters. He opened the door but hesitated before he helped her to sit at the edge of the bed. She would have seen the blush radiating off of his face if it hadn't been for his helmet. Nonetheless, he asked if she wanted help changing into clean clothes and she suddenly met his blush with one of her own. She knew she was too exhausted to do it on her own so she nodded and pointed to where her sleep shirt was still hidden under her pillow. He nodded and carefully reached past her to grab it. Holding the shirt in his hands, he stared down at it and then back at Valera until she sheepishly laughed. 

“I can figure it out, it’s alright. You’ve done enough Mando.” She moved to grab the shirt from him but winced and he grabbed her hand. 

“No. You’re still recovering. I’ve got it.” She stared at him but let him gently remove her ruined clothes. Starting with her pants, he took as much care removing them as he had with dressing her wounds and despite the fact that her bare legs brought back the memory of another night, he quickly freed her from the ruined fabric. He ran his fingers against the soiled hem of what remained of her shirt and looked back up at her. The question whether it was ok to continue hung between them. 

“Would it help if I turned around? Here.” She carefully pulled her legs up onto her bed before turning away from him. Mando slowly pulled the soiled shirt up and over her head, revealing her back to him as he did so. Once it was over her head she was able to pull it down off of her arms without any issues. Mando slowly ran a finger down her spine, and traced along the handful of scars she had scattered here and there. He wondered where they had all come from and as his eyes lowered to where the bacta patch was, realized she would have a new scar there as well. Valera hummed as he continued to draw patterns on her back.

“Hmm,... that feels nice.” Sleepiness was seeping its way into Valera’s body and Mando pulled his hand away as her head dipped forward once before she turned sleepily towards him. He quickly slipped her sleep shirt on over her head and helped to guide her arms into the sleeves before her head lolled forward again. Mando chuckled as Valera moved as if on autopilot, crawled further up her bed, and settled under the covers. He stepped back but she called out to him, suddenly more alert than she was a moment ago.

“Will you stay with me?” She shifted in the bed, and rolled onto her side to make room for him. “Just until I fall asleep?” 

Mando shifted on his heels for a moment but nodded. He looked across the cargo bay and could see the child still asleep on the med table so he took a step back. 

“Just a second.” He crossed the space and relocated the sleeping child in his hammock. The day had clearly taken a toll on everyone and he realized he was all too happy to be taking off his armour before he stepped into the fresher to scrub the day from him. He turned off the main lights and let the faint glow of auxiliary lights lead him back to Valera. She appeared to be asleep when he returned to her, but she cracked an eye and patted the space next to her when he stepped into view. 

The Razor Crest was built to house four crew members, the pilot, and three others, but the quarters for all of them were tight, and the beds were small. Nevertheless, Mando crawled his way onto her bed and laid down. He rested his head on his arm as he laid on his side and faced her. She crossed the gap between them and grazed his helmet with her fingers, tracing along the edge of it before she drew a lazy pattern down his neck and along his arm. 

“I’m sorry you got hurt.” Mando’s voice reverberated out from his helmet and into the darkness between them. “It’s my fault. I should have known they’d double cross me.” 

Valera’s hand disappeared from his arm and he immediately missed the connection. She was quiet for so long, he thought she had fallen asleep but she surprised him as her voice slipped out tired but firm.

“You are my safe space Mando. Here, with you on this ship. This is my home. You didn’t force me to be here, or to do anything I didn’t want to do. Any injuries I get, _I_ am responsible for. They aren’t because of anything you did or didn't do.” She reached out for him again, and he captured her hand and held it tight against his chest. “Although Xi’an did do her best to scare me off.” She laughed for a moment but left him to wonder what she meant as he soon heard her breath even out and felt her hand lose its grip on his. 

———

Valera woke up alone in the dark. Her body ached but she wasn’t in as much pain as she had expected to be. She kicked off the blankets and groaned as she stretched out her limbs. There was a tightness in her calf where the bacta patch was and she rolled her knuckles over the bandage to stretch the freshly knitted skin underneath. Once she was satisfied, she crawled out of bed but only made it to the doorway before immediately running into Mando. A cold liquid spilled down her chest and she gasped at the unexpected attack on her shirt. Mando held a now empty cup and took a half step back out of the room to give her space. Standing in the cool air of the darkened ship, Valera stared down at her shirt and back up at Mando who offered up no immediate explanation.

“Do you have something against my clothes…?” Valera joked, Mando shook his head a fraction and held up the empty cup. His shirt and sleep pants had remained unscathed in the scuffle. 

“I figured you’d be thirsty when you woke up…” His voice sounded stilted behind the helmet’s modulator and Valera gave him a questioning look as she took the cup and placed it on the shelf above her bed. 

“Is everything alright? I do feel better now, I’m pretty sure I’m allowed to leave my room if that’s what you’re implying…” Mando shook his head and tipped his gaze down.

“We should get you a new shirt, you’ll catch a cold.” Valera sucked in a breath as she realized why he was staring at her. She looked down at her shirt again and confirmed that it was clinging to her body. She swatted at Mando’s chest to chastise him but smirked as he turned away. 

“I’ll get you a towel.” He guiltily turned to leave but she grabbed his hand. Embarrassment flushed across his face as he turned back to look at her. He felt like a child about to be scolded but he couldn’t help it if he’d taken advantage of the situation. Her shirt had left nothing to the imagination. For an accident he had done a good job of spilling the entirety of her drink across her shirt. He was once again lost in the curvature of her breasts as she spoke.

“I think I’d rather have your help with warming up.” She brought his hand to the hem of her shirt and stared at his helmet though lowered lashes. “Besides, I need your help removing my shirt.” 

Mando sucked in a breath as his hand made contact with her skin. She slowly led his hand higher and her shirt along with it before bringing her other hand up to rest on his chest. His heart was racing in anticipation. The thought that he had almost lost her before anything could truly begin had chased after him all night and here she was teasing him as if nothing had happened. Now that he had saved her, he’d do anything not to lose her. 

He stepped forward into the small room, and immediately took control of the situation. His hand snaked up under her shirt and cupped her breast, and rolled her nipple between his fingers, he smiled as it hardened from just his touch. His other hand ran up her spine and nestled in her hair. She reciprocated immediately, running her hands over his chest again before she pulled at his shirt.

“You have too much on, Mando.” She pulled the fabric of his shirt up as far as she could but he stopped her and suddenly pulled away. She stared at him in shock and wondered what happened. He sighed and grabbed her hands, and held them tightly as he shook his head. 

“I can’t,... my helmet stays on” Valera realized what he meant and shook her head as she pulled their hands even closer to her body.

“Mando. No, no.. I wouldn’t..” She tried to laugh at the absurdity of it but couldn’t, and pulled one hand away from his to poke at his chest. “Your shirt Mando, I wouldn’t ask you to remove your helmet just so we can have sex. Did you really think that’s what I was asking?” She frowned at him and let his hand drop. She suddenly felt unsure of herself and realized this hadn’t gone how she thought. 

“I don’t, I didn’t mean, I just.” He groaned and rested his head against her shoulder, pulling her flush against him as he tried to find the right words. The metal of his helmet sent goosebumps across her skin but she stayed silent as he gathered his thoughts. Finally Mando sighed and began to speak. 

“I never thought I would find someone who cared about me, Val. I don’t even know what this would look like, I…” She pushed him away then, and placed her hands on his shoulders. Shaking her head at him before she leaned in to place a kiss on his helmet. 

“I don’t know what this will look like either but that doesn’t mean I’m not willing to try. I want you Mando. I want you in whatever way that looks like. I don’t care if I never see your face, I like you for who you are, not for what’s hidden behind here.” She brought her hands up and wrapped them across her chest. Her discomfort grew as she realized this might not work out for them. 

“Maybe you should just go, and we’ll forget about it.” She sighed and turned her face away from him. Mando stayed standing firmly in front of her as he mulled over what she said and then he turned towards her shelves and started looking for something. 

“Ah! No, I want this too.” He spoke with sudden determination as his eyes scanned the shelves behind her. “There is,... a loophole.. Well sort of.” He finally found what he was looking for and grabbed the knife she usually kept in her boot. He unsheathed it and cut a strip of fabric off of his shirt while Valera stood still confused about what was now happening. 

“What? What are you doing? You’re ruining your shirt.” He ignored her and put the knife back down once he had a sizable strip of fabric. He shrugged as a triumphant smirk played across his face, and then turned her around. 

“Close your eyes.” He said as he brought the fabric up and tied it across her eyes. Valera’s heart began to race as she realized what he was doing and she stood still even as her hopeful anticipation rose. Once he was satisfied that it wouldn’t slip off, he helped her to turn back around. 

“You can’t see anything, right?” He asked, as he waved a hand in front of her face. She shook her head, even if she opened her eyes, the fabric obscured her vision. “Alright, good.”

She could hear the gentle hissing of his helmet as he removed it and then the metallic sound of mental on metal. She stood patiently waiting for a moment longer until his hands were on her again. She gasped as his mouth suddenly found purchase on her neck, peppering the flesh there. She knew she had heard him take it off, but the realization that she’d be able to kiss him brought a new flush of heat to her face. His face prickled against her skin, _’he has stubble’_ she mused. Her hands joined his in their eager exploration of one another. She immediately went back to her attempt to remove his now ruined shirt. If she couldn’t see him the least she could do was feel more of his skin. He reluctantly complied but before she could touch him, he cupped her cheek in his hand and kissed her. The needy feeing behind his kiss was like fuel on a fire. She wanted him all the more for it, and pressed her body greedily against his as his tongue traced a quick path along her bottom lip. She opened her mouth and melted into the kiss as they let their tongues explore. His hands rubbed up and down her sides, and finally brought her shirt up to her chest. He pulled away from her to remove the offending article and was suddenly gone. Valera knew better than to think he’d leave her alone, but felt a blush creep across her cheeks and he let loose a long low whistle. 

“You’re beautiful Val.” She blushed even harder as his hands began to explore her body. Finding her breasts again, his mouth lathed against her nipple until it was hard and he gently scraped his teeth against it, before he started kissing back up her chest towards her neck. 

The blindfold had done nothing to make her shy away from him, and her hands danced across the planes of his chest, once more. Now that he was free from his shirt, she could feel the expanse of scars his armor hid from her. His skin was like a treasure map, it was something she wanted to study forever but with every gasp he pulled from her, she knew she wanted more and soon. So she roamed further south, and ran a hand down towards his sleep pants when she paused. 

“You’re still clothed Mando.” She pouted at him and he brought his mouth up to her ear.

“Call me Din.” His voice was low and rumbled with lust before he pulled away to take his pants off.

“What?” She thought he had just said his name but how could he do that when he had nearly called things off a moment ago. As far as she could tell only trusted individuals were allowed to know a Mandalorian’s true name. Her head reeled at the possibility that he would trust her with something so secret.

“That’s my name. Din Djarin. And you,” he brought her leg up to wrap around his hip as he spoke, and rolled his hips against her, “are my cyar'ika.” He claimed her lips once more and Valera met him with renewed intensity. She may never see his face, but the man in front of her set her soul on fire and she would do whatever it took to stay with him for as long as he would have her. 

She gave a surprised scream as he suddenly dipped her back onto her bed and quieted her with another kiss as he lifted her further up the mattress. He brought her hands up above her head before trailing kisses down her chest and stomach only to stop once he reached her undergarments. The sole remaining clothing between them, he hooked his thumb under the fabric and pulled it free from her legs. Moving at a torturous rate, he kissed his way up her thigh before stopping short of where she wanted him most. His member twitched when he saw how wet she was for him. It made him ache to know that he had done this to her, and he looked back up at her face for a moment to take in her already disheveled appearance before he dipped his head between her legs and ran his tongue along her folds. Valera found Din’s head and ran her fingers through his hair. He took his time working her into a frenzy and she bit her lip as an orgasm began to coil within her. 

“Wait, come here.” She tugged on his hair and he made his way back up her body. He took a detour to her breasts again before he finally kissed her lips. She quickly brought her hand down to his length and stroked him, needing more than what he had already given. Lining him up with herself, she teased him for a moment, as she languidly rolled her hips against his. His body stilled only slightly before he asked,

“Are you sure?” 

“Of course I’m sure. I want you Din.” Hearing his name on her lips sent him into a spiral of pure desire. He plunged himself into her and they both gasped as he stretched and filled her. He waited for a painstakingly long moment before she was comfortable enough to shift her hips against his and then he set a slow and steady pace. 

The sounds that escaped her would have been enough to end him right then and there, but he wanted to show her just how much he cared for her. He rocked his hips against hers over and over as she moaned beneath him. 

“Din, can I ride you?” She asked and he slowed his motion, as he snaked one hand under her back and rolled them in the small space. Once she was straddling him, she didn't waste a second before canting her hips towards his again. He hissed out a breath and found her hands, lacing their fingers together as she gyrated against him. 

“Ah I… I’m close Din” she whispered as she blindly leaned forward to capture his lips in a kiss. He groaned in reply and grasped the back of her head as his lips crashed into hers. 

“Get up.” His lust filled voice was commanding and she shivered in anticipation as she complied to his wish. She carefully felt her way off of the bed and he quickly followed her. They stood together for a moment before he grabbed her ass making her jump in surprise. 

“Crawl back onto the bed and stay on your hands and knees.” He directed her as he followed her back onto the bed. He leaned over her and pulled her hair back to kiss her neck for a moment before he lined himself up and reentered her. Valera moaned as he started pounding into her. The new angle felt wonderful and soon enough she was on the verge once again. 

“Din, please, I’m so close!” She rocked her hips back to meet each of his thrusts as he reached between her legs and rubbed his fingers against her clit. The combination of it all was enough to bring her to her climax, and she came hard, crying his name out as her walls clamped down around him, he smiled against her skin and continued to thrust into her. 

“Din I wanna make you cum too” she gasped out as her body still rode the high of her orgasm. His name barely left her lips before he joined her there, riding out his own climax with her name on his lips. They came to a slow stop and Din slipped out of her as he collapsed on his side. He helped guide Valera to him so he could spoon her and they laid together taking in what had just happened. 

“Are you alright? I have an implant so you don't need to worry about any… children.” Din stroked Valera’s hair as he spoke and she reveled in how completely at ease she felt in his arms.

“Yeah I’m alright, I have one too.” She traced along the inside of her hip as she found the tiny inhibitor hiding beneath her skin. He nodded against her back and continued to stroke her hair and then her arms. 

She was still blindfolded but turned in his arms to face him anyways, and ran a light hand up towards his face. She stopped just short of his chin,

“May I?” She felt shy knowing that seeing his face was something she'd never be allowed to do, but she wanted to hold him close and form her own idea of the man laying beside her. 

“If you want to.” He replied, sleep had already settled his voice now that they had settled down and he closed his eyes as she gently explored the planes of his face. She started by tracing his jaw, the stubble she found there tickled her fingers as she moved them. Questions she knew would go unanswered bubbles up to her mind. What was the color of his hair, was this scar from childhood or more recently. She wondered what color eyes he had as she ghosted her fingers across his eyelids but knew that although unanswered, she realized it didn't matter. They cared for each other and that's what truly mattered. 

As she settled down beside him once more, he pulled her in close, and draped an arm over her to keep her caged in against him. She could feel his breath against her hair and the gentle beating of his heart soon lulled her to sleep. 

———

Valera woke up the next morning to the child climbing up into bed with her and she startled for a moment as she realized she was no longer blindfolded. The child paid no mind to her actions and simply went about his business, he patted her leg, an indication that he wanted her to get up for the day, and she laughed. 

“Alright, alright, you’ve got my full attention. What should we do today?” She asked as he stared up at her, his warm brown eyes sparkling with mischief. She stretched and noticed something on her wrist. As she turned to look at it she realized it was her blindfold from last night carefully tied in a bow. She smiled at it and ran her finger over the fabric, the only reminder of what had happened the night before. _’I hope it’s the first of many._ She smiled to herself as she got dressed and readied herself to face the new day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Might revisit this at some point, it feels clunky to me.
> 
> 2/26 took an unintended break this week because a bunch of life stuff happened, but will hopefully have the next chapter up on Thursday!


	7. Shattered Glass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greef has a risky proposal for Din and Valera but is it worth it to clear their names? Moff Gideon is remorseless as he burns down the world around them.

An unexpected hologram of Greef appeared on the dashboard of the cockpit early one morning. Din had only caught the last few words of it as he entered the space and saw Greef’s small image blink out of sight. As he replayed the message, Mando felt a foreboding cloud begin to form in his heart. The last few days had been too good to be true. Valera had made no mention of that first night they had shared together but had readily welcomed him into her room every night since. He marveled at how easy it was to live with her and the child in this way. The warmth and excitement of their budding relationship had been easy to dive into and he cherished it. The difference between them was like night and day, his guarded nature met her unexpected caresses with stilted reactions but not without kindness. Valera’s laughter was never condescending and the warmth of her voice would bring a blush to his cheeks as he thought of other sounds he’d elicited from her in the night. 

Exploring one another’s bodies was best left to the darkness of the ship. The nagging feeling Din had that this was too good to be true was easily soothed away by Valera’s loving embrace. His hunger for her was met with equal voracity and Valera did not shy away from letting him know just how much she appreciated his attention and affection for her. Their nightly romp through the sheets had begun a new tradition of sharing their lives in the dark. Din came to learn more of Valera’s past and who her parents were, and in turn she learned more of the ways of the Mandalore and how Din had lost his own parents. Their similar stories had surprised both of them and strengthened their understanding of one another as well.

That night they were laying on Valera’s bed once again with Din’s torso draped carefully across her chest as she absently carded her fingers through his hair. Din gave a contented hum before rising to his elbows to stare at Valera’s still blindfolded face. She sighed after a moment and dropped her hand from his head as the silence now grew between them.

“I know you have something to say, what is it?” She questioned as she brushed her fingers down across his shoulder blade before resting her arm across her stomach beneath him.

“We got a message from Greef this morning.” The peaceful atmosphere gave way to a nervous hum, and the air itself seemed to buzz with anxiety as she waited for him to give up more information. 

“Well? What did he have to say?” Her impatience got the better of her and the sooner she knew the reason behind his message the sooner she could form a plan to address it. Din shifted forward for a moment and brushed his lips against the bridge of her nose before slipping out of the small space. This was not the answer she was looking for but spoke to the potential severity of the message as Din quickly returned to her now clothed and hidden behind his helmet before he pulled the blindfold from her eyes and continued.

“He’s offering to clear my name and forgive your bounty if we take out the Client who wanted the kid.” He paused to gauge her reaction to this, already knowing she’d be fully interested in the chance to go after the client again, but wondered how she’d take the news that Greef wanted to use the kid as bait.

“What’s the catch? That seems to be awfully convenient for him considering we’ll be the ones actually at risk.” Her only interaction with Greef had almost gotten them both killed, so it understandably didn’t sit well with her to be thrown to the wolves so lightly. 

“He thinks we can lure the Client out by using the kid.”

“No.” She didn’t need to hear any more and was already pushing past him to don her sleep shirt as he encircled her wrist and drew her towards him instead. The movement was comforting but did little to stamp out the fire that was already beginning to rage inside of her.

“It’s out of the question, he’s a child Din. We’re just supposed to offer him up on a silver platter? I won’t.” She struggled against his hold on her but Din caged her in against him, holding her fast before she threw an incredulous look at his visor and calmed down enough to hear him out.

“We won’t bring him on his own. I’ve already set a course to pick up some help. Besides, I thought you’d be happy to have the chance to thin the Empire’s herd?” He tightened his hold on her for a moment before releasing her and moved to leave the space. She followed him and after finally pulling her sleep shirt over her head, took his hand in hers for a moment to say good night. 

“It’ll all be ok, you’ll see.” His voice held more confidence than he felt but Valera only shook her head at him and let her fingers fall from his grasp.

“I don’t like this. We’re supposed to protect him Din.” She rubbed her hands up and down her arms as if taken by a sudden chill and Din followed her actions from behind his visor.

“We will, you’ll see.” Their conversation ended with a shared feeling of unease as they parted ways. They both spent a sleepless night alone as they wondered what would come next. 

———

“Valera! What are you doing back here so soon? You wanna go a round, see what you’re made of?” Their first stop had been Sorgan and Valera had nearly bowled Cara over as they two women embraced one another. Cara had just won a fight with a Zabrak and pointed them towards a table to get reacquainted. They let her in on their plan to help Greef, take out the Imperial Client, and keep the kid safe and asked if she was interested in helping. She was doubtful of Greef’s intentions but agreed to help them anyway.

“It’ll be like the raiders all over again.” She joked but Valera only half smiled at her. 

“Yeah, except better organized and fully stocked with weapons…” Cara grasped Valera’s shoulder and rocked her from side to side before she squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. 

“Hey, you really think any Imperials are gonna stand a chance against the three of us? You’ve gotta be kidding me.” Cara smirked at Mando and soon enough they were back on the Crest and headed towards Nevarro. The three of them reconvened in the cargo bay, leaving the kid strapped safely into the co-pilot seat up in the cockpit. As they prepared for the worst, Mando opened up his weapons locker and they immediately switched gears and went into preparation mode. A somber feeling weighed upon them as they stocked up on what they wanted to bring. 

Suddenly the ship rocked sending all three of them into the surrounding walls. Valera was the first to recover and sprinted up the ladder to the cockpit. She gasped to see the kid at the helm doing his best to fly the ship as he saw fit. Mando and Cara were at her heels and as she swept the child out of the pilot’s chair, Mando took his place and got the ship back under control. Valera held the kid in her arms as Cara shook her head at him. 

“We’ll need someone to watch him, and keep him safe. Do you know anyone?” She reached out and the kid grasped Cara’s hand and shook it as he cooed, in delight. Valera smiled down at him and nodded. 

“I think we do.” Mando turned his head towards her and nodded, he punched in a new set of coordinates and soon they were off to Arvala-7. 

———

The sun was just about to set as they touched down near Kuiil’s moisture farm. The blurrgs bayed at them as they approached and Valera peeled away from the group with the child to say hello to the creatures who anxiously waited for her near the fence. Kuiil watched as Valera greeted the bluurgs and then turned and nodded at Mando. 

“A strong team indeed.” Cara smirked at Mando and raised a curious eyebrow at him as he merely shook his head and Kuiil welcomed the group into his home. After briefly discussing a shared history of service with Cara, they were surprised to see IG-11 enter the dwelling with a tray of drinks and a snack for the child. Valera entered the house behind the droid and gasped, not only at his appearance but at the number of weapons drawn and pointed at him and consequently her. 

Kuiil stepped between IG-11 and their blasters and explained that he had rebuilt IG-11, and had been using him as a helper on his farm. The group seemed to accept his answer for the time being and settled down after they warily holstered their weapons. The tension was broken as IG-11 re-offered the tray of drinks to the group and they spent the rest of the evening discussing their intended plans. Kuiil offered to reprogram IG-11 to protect the child but as Mando followed him around the moisture farm, he continued to argue against it. 

“Droids are not good or bad, they are neutral reflections of their imprints. If you trust me, you will let him protect the child.” Kuiil stood his ground in front of Mando. “I want to protect the child from the Imperial slavery. The old ways must go.” Mando weighed his options and finally agreed. Kuiil nodded and noted that they’d need the blurrgs as well, before he turned away and left Mando alone with his thoughts.

———

After IG-11 was re-programmed, and the blurrgs had been loaded onto the ship, the group found themselves aboard the Razor Crest once more and on their way to Nevarro. The team was occupying their time thinking about anything but the task at hand. Valera and Cara were arm wrestling one another as they filled each other in on the time they had spent apart. Cara had won three games in a row and was about to win a fourth when suddenly she began to choke. Valera pulled back from her in surprise and caught sight of the child clenching his hand as he extended it out towards Cara. 

“Hey! No! Stop it! She’s my friend, she’s our friend!” Valera picked up the child and broke his concentration as Cara coughed and sputtered behind her. 

“That’s not ok, I could have died!” Cara held her hand to her throat gently rubbing at the now tender area. 

“I’ve heard rumors of this.” Kuiil spoke up, as he realized that the child was indeed gifted with the force. Sharing his limited knowledge only served to antagonize Cara who quipped that he was not in allegiance with the others. Kuiil took great offense at her notion and assured her that he bought his own freedom with his own two hands and would never work for the Imperials ever again. Mando pushed through the two of them and pulled the child’s old pod out of an adjoining room. Valera was surprised to see it, having thought it was lost when they initially rescued the child. 

“Kuiil no one is doubting your skills, in fact I could really use your craftwork in updating this pod for the child. Would you be willing to fix it for me?” He spoke to Kuiil but stared in Cara’s direction as he spoke. Kuiil turned from Cara to Mando and nodded to him. 

“I will craft a better one, then perhaps this Dropper will understand how I won my freedom with my own hands.” Valera wrung her hands noting the tension that still hung in the air and took a step towards Kuiil. 

“I... can show you where my tools are Kuiil. Come this way.” She led the Ugnaught away from the others and Mando soon left Cara alone to cool down as he took the child up to the cockpit. 

Kuiil went to work on building an updated pod for the child and with Valera’s help crafted a shining new pod in no time. 

“It’s beautiful Kuiil.” Valera wiped dirt away from her brow as the Ugnaught put the finishing touches on the pod. He nodded and put down the welding torch he had been using. 

“It will do its job in protecting the child, and so will IG-11.”

“I have every faith in you Kuiil. Mando does too, in his own way.” Valera gave the Ugnaught a reassuring hug before she left him to finish his work. 

———

Greef and his crew had been waiting for a couple of hours by the time the Razor Crest dotted the sky above them. Meeting him atop the back of the blurrgs, their groups were evenly matched. The child floated safely in his new pod between Mando and Valera as they moved forward to greet Greef. 

“I hope you’ll excuse the remote location. Things have gotten complicated since you were last here.” He waved a hello at the rest of the group before addressing Mando again. “Who are your friends, Mando? I didn’t realize we’d both bring a security detail.” Hey pointed towards Cara who had already prepared to jump off of her blurrg to fight. “Your shock trooper should stay here and guard the ship. The town is all ex-Empire, they won’t want to deal with her.”

“She’s non-negotiable Greef.” Valera stared at him until he relented, requesting that Cara at least cover her tattoo before they got to town. Once they had confirmed that the child was present, Greef expressed his relief to have this situation nearing its end and they were on their way.

Together the two groups made their way towards the town, agreeing to travel close enough to enter it at first light. They slowly picked their way across the lava fields keeping a wary eye on one another as they travelled, unsure of who Greef had enlisted and wary of anyone coming for the child, it was slow going. Soon enough they were making camp for the night and Greef and Mando went over their plans for the morning after. 

“The reinforcements are all ex-Empire, they’ll scatter as soon as their paycheck is out of the picture.” Greef assured Mando. Valera picked at her food as they discussed the chance that the reinforcements wouldn’t back down, she was already nervous to be putting the child in danger for a second time but lost her appetite as Greef suggested their numbers would be more than enough to persuade the ex-Empire group to surrender. 

Greef assured the group again that it would be more than ok as he stood to pull more meat off of the spit over the fire. As soon as he approached the fire however, a native reptavian dropped out of the sky and caught his arm in its jaw, trying to take the food he held with it. Soon more joined the first and despite the groups’ best efforts, were able to make off with one of the blurrgs, and killed one of Greef’s men. Everyone fired upon the reptavians as they dive bombed the group and eventually the creatures scattered. 

An injured Greef groaned as Cara and valera ran to his side. Cara shook her head, and looked at Valera before pulling an anti-venom syringe from a medpac and injecting Greef with its contents. His arm appeared to have been torn open by the flying creature’s fangs and the wound was rapidly spreading. 

“We don’t have another med pack?” Valera asked, as the two did their best to examine his arm. Suddenly the child was at their side and Valera moved to get him out of their way but Kuiil put his hand over hers. 

“Wait.” He said, as the child moved closer and placed his small hand on Greef’s forearm. 

At first nothing seemed to happen, and as precious seconds ticked by, Greef’s anxiety and pain spiked. Then as suddenly as it had peaked, the pain and the wound began to disappear. The child sat back exhausted but still awake, and the group watched as Greef’s arm returned to normal. Astonished by his abilities, Greef studied the child more closely before announcing his intention to go to sleep for the night. 

“This has truly been enlightening but I think it’s best that I rest if I want to be at full strength tomorrow.” He hurriedly unrolled his pack and his guild members followed suit leaving Mando’s party no logical choice but to rest for the night as well. 

The next morning Greef spoke in hushed tones to the guild members any time they appeared to be outside of hearing range. Cara and Mando did their best to keep an eye out for any potential doublecross attempts from them. It came soon enough but not in the way they were expecting. As they crested a hill, Greef drew his blasters and shot his remaining guild support. Drawing their own weapons, the remaining party stood pointing various blasters at Greef who calmly explained that after saving his life, he couldn’t harm the child.

“We still need the Client out of the way, for all of our sakes, but we need a new plan.” Greef holstered his blasters and the others did the same as they began to formulate a new tactic. 

“Take us, act as if we’re your prisoners. That’s the only way we’ll still get close to the Client.” Valera suggested. The others quickly came around to her idea and began to springboard other thoughts onto it. Greef would bring Mando, Cara would bring Valera, and Kuiil would return to the ship with the child to keep him out of harm’s way. With the new plan settled upon, they prepared for the encounter. Valera hugged the child as he cooed up at her and then handed him off to Kuiil as Cara walked over and cuffed her hands together. Valera finished saying her goodbyes to Kuiil and the child before she joined Cara, Greef, and Mando as they headed into town with the child’s empty pod. 

———

It didn’t take long for the four of them to reach the outer gates of town. Greef provided his chaincode to the stormtroopers guarding the entrance and soon enough they were walking amongst dozens of ex-Empire troopers. They made their way towards the cantina that previously stood as the bounty hunter’s guild, and slowly entered it. Four guards stand at attention in the empty building and the Client stood to greet the newcomers. 

“Here’s what I promised and more. Go ahead, take a look.” Greef greeted the Client and gestured towards Mando and Valera. The Client approached Mando and examined his armor. He made a snide comment about his beskar before he turned towards Valera. 

“Ah Valera, your name precedes you. A beauty, not unlike this beskar here.” Cara nudged Valera’s side to keep her quiet as Valera opened her mouth to respond to him. The Client simply laughed and offered Greef a drink to celebrate the closing of their deal. The droid behind the bar began working on their drinks as the Client began to drone on about the Empire and how it was continuing to strengthen its numbers throughout the galaxy. Valera shuffled on her feet beside Mando as the Client continued speaking of how the Empire would bring order to the death and chaos the world brought about. 

He was interrupted by a group of stormtroopers who entered the cantina and let him know he had a call waiting for him. As he excused himself from the group, Mando and Valera discreetly removed their cuffs and were handed their blasters. Valera paled and gasped as she heard the Client address Moff Gideon and caught sight of his tiny holographic figure as it appeared on the holo-plate nearby. Even the image of him was enough to bring a chill to her core, it brought memories of her nightmare and her childhood swimming to the surface of her mind like a tidal wave. Cara grasped her elbow and brought her back to reality. 

“Hey you ok?” She asked, and although Valera visibly shook, she nodded. 

“Yeah, let’s just get this over with.” 

Their whispered conversation was suddenly interrupted by blaster bolts littering the interior of the cantina. The Client and the troopers were immediately dead but their group was able to take cover as an Imperial transport arrived outside and offloaded a fleet of stormtroopers. 

“This is way more than four guards Greef.” Cara groaned. He shrugged at her and Mando called Kuiil over his comms unit to explain the new situation. 

Outside of the cantina, a TIE fighter landed amongst the stormtroopers and Moff Gideon himself exited the ship. Moff called to the group inside the cantina, making his demands about the child and what would happen if they did not comply. Hearing his claim that the child would be in his possession any moment left Valera’s throat dry. She felt like she was choking on the air itself as Moff’s voice carried its way into the cantina. In the meantime Mando tried to reach Kuiil again but was met with radio silence. 

Moff Gideon stood patiently waiting outside which allowed for a little time for them to plan. However as soon as they had agreed to look for another way out, a new group of troopers appeared carrying an E-Web. As the troopers set up the weapon, the group inside of the cantina did their best to open the sewer grate at the back of the building. Valera was still in shock, she was a child again, hiding from her parents’ killer and was once again helpless to do anything. Mando turned and caught sight of her, realizing who she was scared of and what he meant to her, he abandoned their attempts on the sewer grate and moved to her side. He crouched down in front of her and placed his hands on her knees. 

“Hey, I need you Valera, are you with us? I need you to be with us, ok?” He reached forward and brushed some stray hairs out of her face as Moff gave them his final terms from outside. Flashing back to his own harrowed past, Mando told the others who was standing outside waiting for them. Cara was in disbelief but as she too caught sight of Valera’s shaken appearance, realized that it had to be true. A single tear escaped Valera’s eye as she placed her hand over Mando’s. He turned back towards her and she nodded at him as he finished sharing his story, and was followed by Valera sharing her history with Moff as well. Cara shook her head at their revelation, and as IG-11 came over the comms to confirm that Kuiil had fallen, Valera steeled herself and stood ready to rejoin the others. 

Soon fighting could be heard in the distance and IG-11 was visible outside. The child was carefully held to his chest with a knapsack and gleefully enjoying his impromptu adventure. Mando, Valera, and Greef immediately made their way outside to cover IG-11 as Cara covered them from the cantina. Blaster bolts flew in every direction as the team stood their ground against the stormtroopers around them. Valera caught sight of Moff Gideon and fired a shot at him which he deftly sidestepped. He laughed as she stared him down and tactfully shot past her at a box of ammunition. The explosion caught Mando in the crossfire and he immediately dropped to the ground. Valera screamed and turned on the troopers around her, missing Moff’s cue as he pointed to her and gestured for the troopers to contain her. She blindly stepped back towards Mando but was caught off guard as a death trooper crossed over to her and knocked her out with the butt of their blaster. Valera fell heavily into the arms of the death trooper who easily carried her over to Moff and awaited further orders. 

As the others did their best to haul Mando back into the cantina, Cara asked where Valera was, searching behind them when she didn’t appear in the doorway. Greef set down Mando and stood searching the space with Cara a moment before he pointed a finger towards the broken remains of the window. 

“She’s there.” Cara followed his finger and caught sight of Valera’s incapacitated form in the arms of the death trooper next to Moff. She moved to run outside to get to Valera but was met with a wall of fire as an incinerator trooper doused the building in flames. She stumbled back and Mando called out to her as IG-11 successfully cut open the sewer drain beside him. 

Cara stooped to help Mando but he shook his head as best as he could.

“I’m not going to make it. You need to take the kid, and go save Valera.” Cara grimaced at him but refused to listen. 

“No. We’re getting you out of here. We have to go save Valera together.” The building rained dust down on them as she did her best to address his wounds. He feebly swatted her hand away and shook his head again.

“You have to leave me here. Take the kid and go save Valera. This...is the way.”

———

Outside Moff stood and watched in triumph as the building in front of him began to crumble in on itself. _’Scum.’_ He mused as the roof finally gave way. He was satisfied that they had either perished in the building or were now working their way through the sewer drain under the streets. He pointed towards a group of stormtroopers and a death trooper stepped forward to receive his orders.

“Find the end of the sewer drains and wait for them. Finish off anyone who survived.” He turned towards the death trooper holding Valera and studied her for a moment. She had already begun to stir, and soon enough let loose a low moan as she brought her hand up to her head and nursed the large bump that had already formed there. She opened her eyes and immediately began to struggle against the death trooper, her blaster was nowhere to be found so she went for a flash bang on her belt but the death trooper simply squeezed her arm until she dropped the canister. Moff laughed at her struggle and Valera turned her head to glare at him. 

“So much anger! But it won’t get you anywhere, how sad.” Moff was an imposing man but up close the menace behind his words cut deeper than she wanted to admit. Valera spat at him and he gave her a bored look as he easily sidestepped the glob of saliva.

“Let me guess... I killed your… lover? Your sister, your brother, your parents, or some life long friend? And now you want to kill me, right?” His eyes flashed in delight as he asked the question, the look brought bile to Valera’s mouth as she struggled to find her voice through her rage.

“You killed my parents. And no matter what you do, I will find you and I will kill you.” She gritted out, but he simply laughed again. Gesturing for the death trooper to follow him, he began walking back towards his TIE fighter. 

“Child, I may have affected your life, but I can assure you that any death I brought upon your family was simply another day of the week for me. You’ve wasted your time seeking your petty little revenge. I can assure you of that.” He pointed to a stormtrooper standing by his ship and they stepped forward to meet them. Moff pulled a pair of cuffs from the trooper’s belt and turned towards Valera, who began to struggle once again. The death trooper constricted slowly around her and she coughed as the pressure around her built to an unbearable level. She felt one of her ribs crack and cried out as Moff simply watched her misery with a smile on his face. He nodded at the death trooper and it began to release the pressure it had exerted on her. Moff stepped closer and deftly clapped her wrists into the cuffs and then let the death trooper carelessly drop Valera’s body to the ground. 

Moff stepped up into his TIE fighter and stared down at Valera for a final moment before pointing at the stormtrooper again. 

“Take her to Canto Bight and sell her to the highest bidder.” Valera cried out at his directions and struggled to her knees as the stormtrooper closed in and linked a chain to her cuffs. Moff laughed at her struggles once more as he sat down in his ship. 

“You’ve probably spent your entire life dreaming of this moment, and you’ve failed. Not only have you failed, but I don’t even know your name. You’re a small, pathetic, little bug. You mean nothing to me.” With that, Moff closed the TIE fighter and took off into the sky, leaving Valera to scream after him as the stormtrooper dragged her to another ship and loaded her into a prisoner’s cell. 

“You bastard!” She screamed at the stormtrooper. They merely shrugged and wandered off towards the cockpit leaving Valera alone in the underbelly of an unfamiliar ship.

Too much had happened in such a short span of time. Valera still felt the adrenaline that coursed through her veins and the blood that rushed in her ears but the exhaustion she felt as she realized what Moff said was true, left her feeling empty. She curled up into a ball on the floor of the cell and wept. The tears stained a trail down her dirt covered face as she let her emotions take over. She had failed her family, failed to even try to kill Moff Gideon, and now she had no idea if Din, the child, or anyone else made it out of the cantina alive. 

She screamed again and banged at the bars of her cell before she was rocked back and off of her feet. The ship rocked again as it began its ascent out of orbit. She sat with her back against the back wall of the cell and calmed her emotions to taper into something more constructive. She tried to assure herself that everyone had made it out alive no matter how hollow a promise it felt, she held onto the notion that they would be ok. Vowing to herself that she would see everyone again soon, she did her best to remember any information she could about Canto Bight and what she was about to face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We'll now be entering the risky world of original content, hopefully everyone is still enjoying the story!


	8. The Night Auction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Valera is escorted off to the Canto Bight Auction House and sold to the highest bidder, Louwalt Emmbone. Thinking that Mando has likely died, she vows to escape no matter the cost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: underground sex trafficking ring

Cantonica’s tropical climate had been home to Canto Bight’s thriving tourist business for longer than Valera had been alive. It was a perfect location for surface level activities for visitors, vacation luxuries, shopping, gambling, and betting at the race tracks. It also lent itself to the darker side of high traffic areas and was home to a large underground market for anything and everything imaginable, including trafficking. The trip to the Canto Bight spaceport had taken longer than Valera had anticipated and she was asleep when the stormtrooper returned to collect her. 

It was night out when she was hustled out of the ship and through the busy streets of Canto Bight. No one gave a second glance at Valera’s chains at all. The unspoken understanding of someone in chains was actively ignored and swept under the rug here. No one wanted to point out the dark underbelly of Canto Bight’s income and be caught with a one way ticket into the fold. There was a lot that went unspoken. The stormtrooper weaved their way through the throngs of tourists milling about in front of the Coruscant Casino and continued to drag Valera behind them until they reached a lift guarded by two large guards in the middle of the casino. 

The stormtrooper mentioned Moff Gideon and was immediately granted access to the lift. After a short trip down to the lower levels of the casino, Valera found herself in front of a reception desk where a sleek young Togruta with a black necklace sat taking notes on a tablet in front of her. The Togruta stared at the stormtrooper with disinterest as they approached and slid her tablet across the table when they came to a stop. The trooper signed Valera into the auction system and handed over the chain they’d used to bring her there and disappeared back down the hallway. 

“What is this place?” The Togruta’s name tag informed Valera that her name was Shrillatteen, but it was the only information that she was able to glean from her new captor as she wordlessly filed more information on the tablet. 

“This way.” With the paperwork out of the way, Shrillatteen swung part of the desktop up onto itself and led Valera through the space and down several more hallways. They stopped in front of a room marked ‘Intake’ and Valera was once again handed over to another Togruta named Yil. Valera noticed that they were wearing the same necklace and wondered if it was a requirement of the casino. _’It’s a strange requirement for a place like this.’_ She didn’t dwell on it for long as she was nearly blinded in the preceding room.

The bright white walls surrounding her were only dimmed by the rows and rows of clothing on metal racks that spread the length of the room. Yil gave Valera a critical eye and gave an annoyed huff before she led her over to a fresher in the corner of the room. On a table beside the fresher, sets of heavy black collars sat in rows alongside several radio-like controllers. Each set had a small red light blinking silently up at them as they approached. Yil grabbed one of the collars and controllers and pressed a few buttons on both. She turned and clasped the collar around Valera’s neck before waving the controller in her face. 

“I’m going to release you now so you can clean up and get changed. You see this? This right here, will blow you to pieces if you try to do anything I don’t want you to do, are we clear? You go in there. You get cleaned up. You wear what I tell you to wear. And then we sell you. End of story.” She unlocked Valera’s wrists and dropped the chain and cuffs to the floor before she pointed at the fresher. 

“Get in.” 

“Why are you doing this? Don’t you have any amount of conscience?” Valera wondered if her pleading with Yil would actually help her but decided it was best to give it a shot. Yil frowned at her and tapped at the black necklace she had on, before pointing towards a camera in the corner of the room. 

“You think I have a choice? They’re always watching and I have a family to think about. This is how I keep them alive. Don’t project your ideas onto me. If I had another choice, I’d take it. Now get in.” She turned away from Valera and disappeared in among the rows of clothing without another word. 

The sharp metal of the collar bit into Valera’s skin but she sighed, entered the fresher, and removed her clothes. She folded them and left them in a pile outside of the door. She was wondering if she should keep her knife with her when Yil returned and snatched the pile of clothes and the knife out of her grasp and tossed them into a chute in the wall marked incinerator. Once again left to her own devices, Valera turned on the fresher and quickly cleaned herself up.

Despite the circumstances that brought her there, she was more than grateful for the heat of the water raining down on her. She was caked in blood and dirt and as she rid herself of the grime of the day, she relaxed and felt a renewed sense of clarity surrounding her situation. Yil returned with a parcel of glittering clothing just as Valera finished drying herself off, and thrusted them towards Valera. 

“Here, this is your outfit, and we’ll pin your number on once you’re dressed.” She held up a metal placard stamped with 174 in red across the front. Valera frowned at the surprisingly heavy pile of clothes as she sifted through them noting the majority of it was chains and crystals. 

“Pin it to what, my bare skin?” Yil rolled her eyes at Valera and helped her get into the clothing she had provided. Once she was clothed, Valera turned and caught her reflection in a small hand mirror that Yil held up to her. The new outfit left little to the imagination. She now wore black undergarments, a cropped bustier littered with sparkling crystals, and a short cage skirt with matching crystals adorning each gap between the chains. The effect left Valera feeling like a skimpy chandelier and she frowned at her reflection as Yil studied her and nodded.

“This will do. Now for your hair.” She placed the mirror down on the table with the collars and approached Valera again. She pinned the metal plate to the waist of the cage skirt and then went about pulling Valera’s hair up out of her face. When she was done she even went through the trouble of adding some makeup to complete the look. 

“Alright. You’re ready to go.” Yil led her through a row of clothing racks and towards another door at the back of the room. ‘Stage 1’ was written in several languages on the door itself and Yil brought the controller for Valera’s collar up and swiped it against a keypad on the wall next to the door. The keypad beeped and the door unlocked before them. Before Yil swung the door open, she fished a hinged black claw shaped ring out of her pocket and placed it in Valera’s hand. 

“I know it’s not as good as an actual weapon, but this is the best I can get away with. Good luck out there.” Valera nodded, slipped the ring onto her finger, and stared down at the razor sharp blade that sat at the tip of the claw. 

“Thank you.” She spoke softly to Yil before the door opened and a new employee stood before them. This time a large Devaronian stood before her and stared down menacingly at the two women before him. 

“Hello Blaze.” Yil gave the brutish Devaronian a curt greeting and he simply grunted as he held out his hand towards her. Her brow furrowed as she placed the controller in his hand. The controller disappeared in his large hand and he jerked his head towards Valera indicating she should follow him. Yil sighed and disappeared back into the racks behind them leaving Valera in Blaze’s care.

The hallway they entered was poorly lit and black. Valera’s eyes took a while to adjust to the darkness as he led her silently to her next destination. They stopped for a moment at a door marked ‘Floor Access Stage 1’ and Blaze keyed their entry into the room before grasping Valera’s wrist and leading her towards a very narrow cage with a small chair inside. The door for the cage stood open and waiting and he swung Valera into the space with ease. She lost her balance and landed hard against the chair, knocking it and herself to the ground. Blaze laughed and initiated a strange force field that appeared around the cage. 

She hadn’t noticed at first, but the room they entered was full of similar cages, all of them occupied. As she righted herself and looked around, Valera could see other women of various species, dressed similarly to her, locked in their own cages. Valera tried to get the attention of the Twi’lek next to her but the other woman was too busy pacing her small space and talking to herself. It was then that Valera realized she couldn’t hear anything. The Twi’lek spoke soundlessly to herself, others seemed to be doing the same. She could see several others trying and failing to communicate amongst one another. Valera stood and shouted for someone to look her way but sat back in resignation as she realized she was wasting her breath. 

Blaze had walked past her towards a Rodian who was moving the cages one by one onto a lift and repositioning them within a glowing yellow square on the floor. Periodically a green light lit up on a control box next to the square and the Rodian would hit a corresponding button to send the cage and its occupant up towards an opening in the ceiling. Valera panicked again and tested her ring against the force field of her cage. The glowing pink field was unphased by her attempts and as she sat back down to plot her next attempt, the Twi’lek next to her caught her attention. 

She had stopped pacing long enough to solemnly stare at Valera as she clawed at the force field. As soon as their eyes met the Twi’lek held up a single hand and upon her finger was the exact same ring Valera was wearing. _’So they’re giving us false hope, great.’_ She shook her head in understanding and the Twi’lek nodded once and resumed her pacing. 

An hour passed, then two, as the cages around Valera one by one were brought over to the opening and hoisted up towards the ceiling. Valera wondered what was going to happen once it was her turn, and held onto the fact that she’d find a chance to fight and escape as soon as she could. Another hour passed and finally Blaze turned towards Valera’s cage and tapped against the force field. The pink veil disappeared and Valera heard the Rodian chuckle as she was brought, cage and all, towards the waiting yellow square. 

“Ah the showstopper, how fun.” The Rodian grinned at her as the green light on the console lit up and he hit the button next to it. “They’re gonna eat you alive” 

“Don’t be so sure, I’ll tear this place apart the second I break free.”

“Yeah, good luck with that.” He chuckled again as her cage lurched upwards and the lift slowly brought her up through the ceiling and revealed a darkened theater, with several lights directed towards her as she appeared in the middle of the stage. 

———

“And now,... without further ado, here is tonight’s final offering, lot 174! An orphan of unknown origins, this enticing vixen was brought to us directly from…. Moff Gideon!” A disembodied voice boomed out from speakers on either side of the stage and Valera shrank back from the sheer volume they emitted. She could only see half shadows of the members of the crowd who cheered at her appearanceShe was able to make out half faces of the beings who leered up at her as they continued to wolf whistle and cat call her. The majority of the crowd appeared well dressed, clearly the high rollers of the casino were present, but the rest of the crowd looked seedier, clearly these beings were well guarded.

“As always the highest bidder wins the auction and the property rights to this lovely, lovely lady. Let’s thank Moff Gideon and start the bidding off at 50,000 credits! Do I hear 50? 50 to the Verpine gentleman in the front here, thank you sir. Do I hear 55?”

The bidding continued and Valera glared out at the beings before her. They shifted eagerly amongst themselves as the bids soared higher and higher. _’Keep your cool, whoever wins, I’ll just escape. It’s fine. I’ll be fine.’_ The numbers continued to climb when suddenly a voice sounded from the back of the room. The crowd parted and a sleek debonair human waltzed his way towards the front of the room and pointed towards Valera. The crowd around him whispered, _"Louwalt. It’s Louwalt Emmbone."_

“I want her, no matter the cost! 2 million credits!” Louwalt Emmbone stood stock still at the edge of the stage, staring at Valera as the rest of the crowd died down. Louwalt had made a name for himself early in life as a popular Fathier jockey. He easily rose in the ranks as pro, and eventually amassed a large fortune through his involvement with rigging the races. Lou acted as a king amongst the casino patrons, doing what and who he wanted, his handsome looks and charms were hard for most beings to resist. A few grumbling voices sounded around him as others continued to stare up at Valera but no one made an attempt to out bid him. 

“2 million going once! Going twice!” The auctioneer boomed out over the crowd, signaling the last few seconds others would be able to bid but no one attempted to outbid the racing star. “Sold! To Louwalt Emmbone for 2 million credits, congratulations Mr. Emmbone! Please meet our representative at the retrieval booth to claim your purchase. That is all for now folks, enjoy the rest of your night and thank you for choosing Canto Bight Auction House!”

The voice cut out and the lights in the auction house illuminated the room. A stage hand wandered over to Valera’s cage and initiated the force field around her cage once more before hoisting the cage onto a platform and moving it to the wings. As she was being carted away, she caught sight of a flash of silver moving with intent through the crowd towards the stage. 

“Mando… Mando!!!! Oh…” In her excitement, she forgot that he might not even be alive, and felt her hope of seeing him die out as she realized the silver figure was in fact a chrome stormtrooper. She was jostled off of the stage and plunged back into the darkness as the stage hand wheeled her towards a door off stage and swung her towards a door to the left. A revolving door marked ‘In’ swung open and Valera was dumped into a large waiting room. A handful of other beings who were auctioned were still in cages scattered around the room but one by one each being was released from their cage and handed over to their auction winner through a door that opened onto the casino floor.

It didn’t take long before Valera could see Louwalt gesticulating wildly at a woman working the counter by the door. The attendant was doing her best to keep him calm but was ultimately failing. As soon as he had paid her, she quickly made her way over to Valera’s cage, dropped the force field, removed the number from her clothes, and escorted Valera over to Louwalt. Once Louwalt had the controller to Valera’s collar in his hand, she was ushered through the door and into his waiting arms. She recoiled at being handled in this manner and did her best to struggle out of his grasp. 

“Get your hands off of me!”

The lithe jockey stood a full head taller than Valera and easily lifted her off of her feet before putting her back down. He smiled down at her and gave a mock bow before he grabbed her arm and nestled it in the crook of his arm. Giving her hand a quick pat, he leaned in towards her and smiled a particularly wicked smile at her. 

“Any trouble from you and you’ll _beg_ for me to blow that collar up, understood? Now smile! I won a beautiful prize.” He gave a hearty laugh as if he had told her a joke and was quickly surrounded by admirers vying for his attention and congratulating him on his big win. Valera’s mind was reeling, and the overwhelming number of beings surrounding them were prodding at her as if she were a pet. She smacked at a wandering hand and Louwalt deftly grasped her wrist and added it to the hand that was hooked on his arm. As the mystery hand once again reached out for her body, Valera struggled to break free from Louwalt’s grasp and snapped at the intrusion.

“If you want to keep that hand, you’ll remove it from my ass!” The crowd simply laughed and Louwalt stared daggers at her before the anger disappeared from his face and he addressed his admirers.

“Looks like my prize is a bit tired from the day’s events. I think it’s time we turn in for the night, folks! Don’t forget I’ll be racing on Darkskipper in tomorrow’s big race so make sure to place your bets on us to win! Good night everyone! Good night! Yes, thank you. Thank you!” He addressed a few women in particular as they spoke about how much they loved watching him ride the Fathiers and made them blush as he insinuated it wasn’t the only thing he was good at riding. As the women blushed and batted their eyes at him he pulled Valera away from the crowd and towards a lift with a guard. The guard pressed a button to call the lift so it was ready by the time Louwalt and Valera reached him. 

“Good evening sir.” Louwalt gave him a curt nod before dragging Valera into the glass lift and they began their ascent towards the private residence levels of the casino’s hotel. She shirked away from his grasp as soon as the doors were closed and Louwalt ran a carefully calculated hand through his hand as he ignored her as he waved to a few beings who watched their ascent. 

“You’ll do well to be compliant if you want to stay alive. I can always buy another girl, you certainly haven’t been my first purchase.” His tone grew colder the higher the lift brought them. Valera looked away from her new captor and studied him in the reflection of the lift’s glass. He was tall and fairly handsome but otherwise unassuming. His threat wasn’t enough to warrant any fear from Valera, but she kept it in mind as the lift came to a stop and opened to reveal a short hall and a gilded door with the word Emmbone in gold emblazoned across the surface. Valera rolled her eyes at the ostentatious look of the door and soon found the same embellishments in the rest of his living space. 

The inside of Louwalt’s suite was gaudy and nearly every surface was draped in rich red satin and accompanied by paintings of his likeness. Valera was immediately left to her own devices as Louwalt stepped away and disappeared into the depths of his home. She warily made her way into the space and tried to casually check for another point of entry but came up empty handed. The lift and a balcony were the only doors that opened to the outside world and as she stepped out onto the balcony she gazed down at the pool area fifty stories below. She sighed realizing she’d have to try and escape when they were on the casino floor again. 

Louwalt suddenly appeared behind her and ran his fingers up her right arm as he caged her in against the balcony’s railing. Valera tensed and tightened her grip on the railing as he slowly pressed against her body, leaning both of them dangerously over the rail. His body was warm against hers and she shivered as wind caught her exposed skin leaving goose bumps in its wake. Louwalt brought his hand up across her chest and palmed his hand against her skin as his fingertips brushed the collar around her throat. 

“So how does a beauty like you become entangled with the likes of Moff Gideon? I’m guessing your bark is worse than your bite since he sent you to the auction house. Should we find out?” He pulled them back from the edge of the railing and started to drag his hand back down her chest. Valera whipped away from him and back handed his face leaving a bright red line from the clawed ring on her finger. She backed her way towards the door of the suite and away from the railing as he laughed and wiped the blood from his face. 

“Touch me without my consent again and I’ll kill you. I don’t care how famous you are.” She spat the words at Louwalt whose demeanor immediately changed. Feeling a twinge in her spine, she blindly stepped backwards towards the doorway and Louwalt sprung across the space between them. His forward momentum caught her off guard and she tripped across the threshold as he landed on top of her body. Valera caught his forearm with the clawed ring again but Louwalt was able to trap her arms in his own and held her in a tight grip as he fished her controller out of his pocket and shoved it in her face. 

“Remember this? I _own_ you, you little wastoid. You think you can just fight me? I don’t think so.” He was shaking with rage above her as he pressed the controller further against her face. Suddenly a doorbell sounded and Louwalt’s deathly glare clicked off and his showman smile was back on his face. He stood and yanked Valera to her feet with him before dusting himself off and tucking the controller back into his pocket. The doorbell keeled again and he stormed through his suite and roughly shoved Valera into his bedroom. She hit the bed with the back of her knees and fell backwards onto the silken comforter behind her. 

“I’ll be back for you in a minute.” His venomous words were punctuated by the locking of the bedroom door as he left to address the intrusion. Valera immediately sprang from the bed and began searching the room for anything that she could use as a weapon. Unfortunately the contents of the room was mostly ornamental and aside from finding a walk in closet, and an adjoining bathroom, she was left empty handed. 

She decided to try her hand at picking the lock of the door but as she moved towards it, the door handle began to shake. Valera frantically looked around for something to attack Louwalt with but froze when she heard a whispered voice on the other side of the door. 

“Valera? Valera are you there? Open the door.” 

“Mando?!”

———

After IG-11 had healed Mando and sacrificed himself, Greef told him that they had seen the death trooper holding an unconscious Valera before they were forced to escape. Mando had not taken the news well and immediately wanted to storm back into town to begin questioning each stormtrooper he could get his hands on. Cara threw a hand across his chest and the child chirped at him from his pod. 

“We need a plan, we can’t just blindly follow her with guns blazing. Greef, do you have any idea where Moff would take her?” She turned towards Greef and he thought for a moment before shaking his head. 

“If he didn’t take her with him? He could have killed her, sold her, sent her off to any number of places. We can try to ask around but I’m not sure that there’s anyone left who will know anything.” He looked over at Mando who was already prepping the child’s pod for a return into town and sighed. “Let’s see what we can do.”

Thankfully a small number of stormtroopers had stayed behind to rest from all of the fighting and had been easy pickings to gather up and interrogate. Only one of the troopers had been close enough to Moff Gideon to know that Valera had been sent to Canto Bight, and Greef and Cara had to restrain Mando as he moved to attack the stormtrooper. 

“He’s not the guy Mando, get a hold of yourself!” Greef struggled to hold Mando back but with Cara’s help eventually held him off as he collected himself. Mando stormed off towards the Razor Crest with the child’s pod in tow. Greef and Cara followed him as quickly as they could and caught up to him as he discovered Kuiil’s remains. They sobered as they found him. The anger Mando felt morphed from unchecked rage to simmering vengeance but felt some peace knowing that Kuiil died a warrior's death. They set about burying his remains before making their way onto the Crest and then they were off. 

As they raced towards Cantonica, Greef made some calls to a couple of contacts he had at Canto Bight. They were in luck, the auction house would be opening that very night so they would have an opportunity to save Valera without having to navigate the underground maze of the casino. Mando sat stoically in the pilot’s chair, enraged that Valera had been captured by Moff Gideon. He hadn’t done enough to keep her safe, and his rage compounded upon itself as he blamed himself for her capture. Greef had left him to his own devices but Cara joined him in the cockpit, rested a hand on the back on Mando’s chair and stood staring out across the stars for a moment before she spoke.

“Don’t hold this against yourself, Mando. If there was anything we could have done, we would have done it. She knows that. We’re going to get her now and that’s all that matters.” They let a silence fall around them for a while before Cara moved to leave him. Mando turned his head a fraction as she began to descend the stairs and mumbled a thank you just before she disappeared. 

“Of course Mando, you’re my friends, this is what friends do.” With that she left him to his thoughts once more. 

They touched ground half an hour after the auction house had opened its doors. Greef’s contact had been good to their word and had procured an admission ticket for each of them. Once the child was asleep and safely locked on the ship, they made their way into the auction house. The Canto Bight casino had the largest casino floor of any casino in the galaxy, it’s floorplan easily engulfed several other smaller buildings including the auction house. From the outside, the house appeared to be just another part of the casino, but the only entrance was behind a set of roped off double doors and through two floor guards. 

The group approached the guards and soundlessly presented their tickets. Both guards took a turn looking the team over and looking the tickets over before one of the guards spoke into a comms piece in their ear. The doors behind them creaked open and the three were admitted into the dark of the auction house’s auditorium. As they entered, a wookie was on stage and the auction for her was nearing its conclusion. They stood against the back wall and watched as the winner was announced and the wookie’s cage was led off stage.

“This isn’t like any auction house I’ve ever been to. What are those collars?” Cara whispered as the bodiless announcer began their spiel for the incoming being on stage. Greef sighed and shook his head. 

“It’s the lowest of the low, the sex trade is a booming industry but you’ll never catch me dealing with these kriffing low lifes. If it were up to me they’d all be encased in carbonite.” He pointed towards the Togruta that was now featured on the stage and turned towards Cara. “Those collars are bombs, if they don’t do anything their owner doesn’t like. Boom. They’re gone.”

Cara nodded at his explanation and rage flickered across her face. She squared her shoulders, stepped away from the wall and turned back towards Mando and Greef. 

“I have my coms up and running. I’m gonna see if I can’t go find the control center for those collars. Let me know when you find Valera.” She didn’t wait for their reply and simply melted into the crowd of shadowed figures. Greef tried to call after her but she was gone. 

They waited for another hour before finally Valera appeared on stage before them. Mando’s mouth ran dry as he caught sight of her. She glimmered like a beacon calling him home and it took all of his strength not to leap up onto the stage and save her then and there. Greef sensed Mando’s unease and rested a staying hand against his forearm. 

“Patience Mando, we need to pull her from a buyer not a room full of thugs.” As he spoke the doors to the house opened and Louwalt announced his presence as he stepped forward to stake his claim. Greef turned to Mando and smirked at him. 

“Bingo.” They waited long enough to ensure that Louwalt was the winner of Valera’s auction and then quickly exited the room. Mando took one last look at Valera’s frantic face as the house lights went up and ground his teeth together. _’Moff Gideon will pay for this.’_ He caught sight of beings swarming around Louwalt to congratulate him and Mando shook his head as he left. _’You will too.’_

Back outside of the auction house, Greef and Mando immediately went into reconnaissance mode. They quickly learned that Louwalt Emmbone was a big name around the casino and did little to hide his face from the limelight. His face was plastered all over the casino in various advertisements for the Fathiers race the following day. Mando and Greef reconvened at the entrance of the casino and watched as Louwalt claimed Valera from the auction house and eventually disappeared with her in a lift. 

Guilt and bile rose in Mando’s throat as he stormed outside and watched as Valera rose higher and higher in the lift. He was so close and yet for all he knew, she thought she was on her own and he was dead. Anxiety raced through him as Greef ran over with an unfamiliar Rodian in a Canto Bight casino suit. Greef grinned at Mando as they came to a stop in front of him. 

“Anyone up for a little room service distraction?” Greef chuckled as he introduced Mando to his contact, Dwiso, and explained that the lift they took only went to one suite, Louwalt’s. “All we have to do is get up there, and she’s ours for the taking. You think your jetpack can handle a trip up to the balcony? You can cover for me before I get up there.” 

Mando cast his eyes up towards the penthouse suite and nodded at Greef. Before he could answer, Cara’s voice crackled through to their comms pieces and let them know she was about to gain access to the main control room. Greef clapped his hands and filled her in on their plan and she confirmed that she would destroy the main control system for the collars as soon as she could. Mando and Greef shook hands before separating and as soon as he felt the coast was clear, Mando lifted off of the ground and made his way to the roof of the suite to wait for Greef’s signal. 

From his new position he switched on the heat sensor in his visor and watched as Louwalt and Valera moved around the suite. He stilled as she opened the door to the balcony directly below him. His heart raced in his chest as he fought the urge to reveal himself and save her immediately. His patience paid out as Louwalt joined her on the balcony a moment later. Mando’s rage simmered on the surface of his conscience as he listened in on Louwalt’s lewd conversation. His sensor gave him a front row seat to Louwalt’s assault on Valera and he turned away to check on Greef’s progress but couldn’t make him out against the number of other patrons in the hotel. He turned back and watched as the heat signals of Valera and Louwalt fought against one another on the floor right below his feet. He held his breath as he heard the doorbell sound inside of the suite and immediately turned off the heat sensor. As soon as he heard Louwalt move further into the suite he readied himself to jump down onto the balcony. 

“Cara, we’re about to get Valera. Kill the collars as soon as you can. We’ll see you back on the Crest.” Cara confirmed she had heard his request and wished him luck. He stood on the edge of the roof and grappled down onto the balcony just as he caught sight of Louwalt’s back disappearing behind a wall to answer Greef at the front door.

Mando stepped silently into the suite and turned in the direction Louwalt had just come from. He stalked towards the nearest door and opened it. Frustration kicked in as he stared at an empty guest room, and he moved on to the next door. He hoped Greef could stall Louwalt long enough for him to find Valera. The third door he tried was locked but he could hear movement on the other side. He risked calling to Valera, and her voice answered him through the door. He immediately did his best to quietly pick the lock on the door.

———

Relief flooded her body as Valera heard Mando’s voice on the other side of the door, she scrambled towards it and whispered back to him. 

“Mando!” A sob raked her chest before she could continue, “you’re alive!” The pain she had felt in thinking she had lost him flew from her body and she looked the door up and down with renewed determination to escape. 

“I can’t open the door from my side, I couldn’t even find anything to pick the lock with.” She whispered through the door jamb as Mando hurriedly continued making attempts on the door. Greef’s voice suddenly carried down the hallway towards them. 

“Alright! Well if there’s nothing else I can do for you sir, I guess I’ll be going now!” Mando doubled his efforts and finally unlocked the door. He swept into the bedroom and closed the door behind him. 

Valera stepped back and was amazed as Mando appeared visibly unscathed and seemingly unharmed from the blast he had sustained back on Nevarro. She wanted to embrace him but almost as soon as he had closed the door, Louwalt burst through it and held up a bottle of champagne for Valera to see. 

“Look sweetheart! They sent us a congratulatory gift on my money well spent. Now are we going to enjoy one another’s company? Or do I need to teach you a true lesson about manners?” He stepped further into the room before he slowed to a stop just in front of Valera. He grasped her elbow and began to apply pressure as he glared down at her. 

“What did you do, I thought I locked you in here, you little witch!” 

“You did.” Mando stepped out from behind the door and pointed his blaster at Louwalt. 

Louwalt’s showmanship immediately returned and he showed almost no surprise as he looked towards Mando and then back at Valera. He sneered and threw Valera against the ground as he held up his hands and turned to face Mando again. 

“Hey now, we can all be friends here. I bought her fair and square bounty hunter. If you leave now, we won’t have any trouble.” He tightened his grip on the bottle of champagne but before he could move to swing it a single shot rang out and he dropped the bottle to the floor. A single blaster hole began to weep blood from Louwalt’s thigh and he sank to his knees. Valera scrambled to her feet and ran over to Mando who handed her a second blaster which she quickly pointed towards Louwalt.

He gave a guttural scream as blood now streamed freely from his leg and crawled towards his bed to press a single button on the bottom of the frame. He then pointed a bloodied finger towards Mando and smiled. 

“You fool! She’s _mine!_ I bought her! You can’t just take her away! My guards will see that you rot in a cell for injuring me like this, you’ll see!” Valera glared at Louwalt who simply held up the controller for her collar and dangled it out towards them mockingly. Valera fired a round near his hand and he screamed and dropped the controller away from himself. She picked it up and searched the controller for any way to remove the collar, but came up with nothing.

“He’s right, this collar has a bomb in it. They can trigger it remotely whenever they want to.” She stared nervously towards the door wondering how long they’d have until his guards arrived to protect him.

“Not for long, Cara how are we doing with the control system?”


End file.
